Summer Heat
by frankybadass
Summary: It is Rachel's first summer back from NYADA and she has brought a guest with her, surprising all of her friends, especially one Mr. Noah Puckerman who is none-too-pleased when he sees Brody with Rachel on their friends' graduation night. His reaction to Brody confuses Rachel and may lead to surprising revelations that could change their entire view of one another.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you ready for this?" The door to Rachel Berry's new pink car opens, startling her, and she looks over to see her boyfriend sliding into the passenger's seat.

She shrugs. "As ready as I will ever be," she responds meekly with a shrug of her shoulders. Her jaw is set in a hard line and her hands are clutching the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles are turning white. It is not everyday that Rachel grows so tense that she cannot function. She participates in yoga classes to keep herself calm, but ever since she and Brody arrived in her hometown mere minutes earlier, she has been unable to relax.

She hears a door shutting and the click of a seat belt and knows that Brody is safe and secure in her car now, but she still does not move to place her foot on the gas pedal or put her car in drive. They made a quick stop at the gas station. Brody wanted to pick up a few things, mainly junk food, which Rachel advised him against, but he has a habit of not listening to her when it pertains to his sometimes not-so-healthy eating habits. He always makes a point of reminding her that his eating habits led to his physique which she claims to love so much any time they are intimate with one another.

She feels his strong hand grab her thigh gently and her shoulders relax almost instantly. Brody's touch has a way of calming her down. She does not know if it is because he radiates warmth or if it is because he is always gentle; she supposes it is both. "Is everything okay, honey?" he asks, sounding concerned. He has no reason to be. Or maybe he does. She isn't exactly sure.

"I... I don't know," she answers honestly, a sigh escaping her. "I am aware that I made a promise to Tina and Brittany that I would attend their high school graduation as they attended mine, but I made it very clear when I kicked Finn out of my life that Lima is not home to me anymore. This town is full of bad memories, so many bad memories that they override the good ones at the moment and I do not like feeling bitter, but I do. I want this to be a fantastic summer and it will not be fantastic if I stay here."

She frowns. She instantly feels awful after speaking the words because all of her friends are here and so are her dads, but Finn is here and Finn is the worst memory she has in Lima. He used to be her friend, the only man in her life aside from her dads and Sam that she could truly count on, but that ended when he did not call for four months and lied to her about his whereabouts and left her behind in New York without saying goodbye.

She has decided that she will forever care about Finn, but he was right that day all those months ago, her tears are reserved for someone else now.

Brody has found a way into her heart and she likes him a lot and she has long since forgiven him for having sex with Cassandra July, her nasty dance teacher. The two have been together for almost four months and she could not be happier. She wanted to spend her summer with him and Kurt and Blaine, but no, Brody and Kurt decided Lima would be a better place to go for the summer.

She cannot disagree more. Obviously.

"Forget Finn," Brody says somewhat nastily. His aggressive tone catches her off guard. She does not know why she is surprised, however. It is no secret that her boyfriend is none-too-pleased with Finn and has an extreme dislike towards him. She finds it complicated to be angry with Brody for being so quick to judge Finn, simply because said boy has given Brody no reason whatsoever to think him to be a good person. "You have me and your friends. You also have your dads. Don't let the idiot keep you from having a good summer. You deserve a fantastic summer more than anyone I know after the year you have had. Leave the past in the past. Enjoy yourself. If not for yourself, then for me."

She smiles dreamily, feeling happier than she has since before they left New York. Brody is right, she realizes. She deserves to have a good summer. Preferably a great one. And she will try, for herself and for her boyfriend.

She puts her car in drive and pushes her thoughts aside. "I will, for me... and for you." Brody leans over and places a sweet kiss on her lips before leaning back in his seat and giving her a soft, assuring smile.

"It'll be fine, Rachel," he reassures her. He has spoken the words plenty of times over the past few days, but this is the first time she truly finds herself believing the words.

"I know," she whispers honestly before stepping on the gas pedal and pulling away from the gas station. Finn Hudson has ruined a lot for her. She will not let him ruin her first summer back from New York.

XXX

"Rachel!" The squeal causes Rachel to jump. She heaves a frustrated sigh. She hates that she is easily startled. First Brody and now Brittany.

"Britt!" she squeals, throwing her arms around the taller girl. She holds onto her for a few moments. Rachel has missed Brittany a lot. Their conversations on the phone are not enough for the brunette. Brittany is a bundle of joy, always so optimistic and full of life and Rachel is very proud of her friend for _finally _graduating high school. She knew Brittany had it in her; all she needed was that extra push to go that extra mile.

"Mr. Schue and Miss Sylvester are letting me wear my unicorn button!" Brittany exclaims excitedly as she pulls out of Rachel's death grip. "See?" she queries as she points to the aforementioned button on her red graduation gown. Rachel laughs softly, but sighs afterward, feeling nostalgic as she looks around. The inside of the girl's locker room is full of seniors wearing red and white, reminding her of her graduation, which feels like it happened ages ago rather than one measly year.

"That's great, Britt," she responds. She is about to say more, but Brittany's expression changes in quite literally the blink of an eye, confusing Rachel. "Rach, I do not mean to alarm you, but there is a very, very hot boy standing beside you and if you don't snatch him up, I certainly will because San says she doesn't mind if I sleep with someone else while we are on a break and-"

Rachel cuts her off, looking affronted. She looks over and sees Brody. Now she understands what has Brittany so rattled. She intertwines her fingers with Brody and grins, slightly amused by Britt's reaction to him. Not that she can blame her. Brody is definitely a fine piece of human architecture. "Britt, I would like to introduce you to my _boyfriend_, Brody." She knows the emphasis on the word boyfriend is unnecessary, but she likes to see the looks on the faces of females when they hear that someone as good looking as Brody is off the market.

"Oh." Brittany frowns, but her frown quickly morphs into a smile. "Congrats, Rach. He's a total hunk."

She hears Brody chuckle and has to fight her own chuckle from escaping her. "Thanks," she says awkwardly, feeling herself blush.

"No problem. Anyway, I have to go. Stick around, though, yeah? We totally have to have a slumber party." Brittany gives her one more hug before running off to join Tina and a few of her fellow Cheerios.

Brody spins her around effortlessly, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "How are you feeling?"

She grins and stands on her tiptoes, her lips only inches from his own. "Much better, especially knowing that I have you here to endure the torture of Lima with me," she says teasingly before pressing her lips against his. The two share a few quick kisses before leaving the locker room and making their way to the bleachers. The amount of familiar faces she sees is overwhelming for her, but she does not allow it to get to her, not even when she sees Finn seated with a few of the new glee club members and Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pilsbury.

She and Brody pass Finn on the way to their seats, but he pays Rachel no mind, which does not bother her in the least because she does not want to acknowledge him, either. She spots Mercedes and Quinn seated near the top of the bleachers and is surprised to see Noah with them as well.

"I know where we are going to sit," she tells Brody, her smile even bigger than before as she takes him by the hand and leads him to the row where Mercedes, Quinn, and Noah are seated. She does not hesitate in taking the seat beside Noah. Brody seats himself beside her, instantly reclaiming her hand and placing their intertwined hands in his lap. She does not mind the gesture; it is comfortable, familiar.

"Rachel!" Mercedes and Quinn exclaim at about the same time. Mercedes reaches over Quinn and Noah to greet Rachel with a one-armed hug and Quinn reaches over only Noah to do the same. The expression on Noah's face when he sees Rachel is priceless.

"Wow, you got fucking hot, Berry," Noah announces bluntly. The only one who looks surprised by his blatant statement is Brody, but Rachel smiles at Brody, assuring him that he has no reason to feel threatened. Although, the warmth she feels in the pit of her stomach states otherwise, but he does not need to know that. She does not even know why the feeling is there and does not want to think too hard on it for fear of giving herself a migraine.

"Ever so eloquent, Noah," she replies sarcastically. "It is nice to see you again as well," she adds, fighting back a grin. She bites her tongue to keep herself from saying that he looks good, too, but it is true that he does. His head is newly shaved (she must admit that she misses the Mohawk, though she will never say so aloud lest he get a bigger head than he already has) and he has a small amount of stubble, which makes his jawline look even more defined. She also notices that he is more toned and tan. Los Angeles has done him well.

She shakes her head, realizing that she is staring which is not only creepy, but wrong because she should not be staring at Noah when her boyfriend is sitting beside her.

She should not be staring at Noah ever, really.

"I agree with Puck, Rachel. Plus, your hair looks absolutely amazing," Quinn chimes in. She smiles. The two have grown a lot closer since graduation. They have phone conversations almost every night and video chat every chance that they are given.

"Same to you, Quinn," she says and she means it. Quinn looks beautiful, as usual. Her blonde hair has grown since graduation and looks fantastic, but Quinn has always looked fantastic, a fact that does not bother Rachel the way it used to. She has grown more confident since leaving Lima. She owes a lot of that to Brody.

"Oh, how rude of me," she blurts randomly after a moment of comfortable silence passes between the friends. "Quinn, Mercedes, Noah, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Brody Weston."

Brody shakes hands with Quinn and Mercedes. He goes to shake hands with Noah, but Noah brushes him off. Rachel raises her eyebrows at him, but does not question his actions. She would like to say that he is acting weird because he does not like new people, but she knows that is not it. Then again, she is unsure of what it could actually be, so she will go with that reason even though she knows it to not be the truth.

She hears music begin to play and clears her mind. She watches as the seniors steps out onto the football field one after one. She has flashbacks from her graduation. She sees herself wearing red and white. She pictures her friends. She pictures herself with Finn... and then she snaps herself out of it. She looks to her left, where Brody is seated. He is watching the students while she watches him, reminding herself that he is her present. New York is her present. Lima is the past.

XXX

Rachel and Brody remain on the bleachers with Quinn, Mercedes, and Noah long after graduation has ended and the parents and guests have dispersed. She agrees to join Quinn and Mercedes at Tina's for a sleepover the upcoming weekend before the three say their goodbyes, leaving her alone with Noah and Brody.

She feels awkward is the accurate word to describe how she is feeling in this exact moment. She thinks she has a right to feel such a way. She is with her boyfriend and the boy she has made out with on several occasions in the past and even "dated" for a week in high school.

"Hey, Rach, I have to go to the bathroom, but I'll be right back," Brody says, breaking the silence. She is thankful for the distraction from Noah's intense, very serious gaze. Brody gives her a kiss before standing and practically sprinting down the bleachers. Once he is out of sight, she turns to Noah, demanding to know what his problem is.

"I don't have a problem, Berry," he murmurs, albeit defensively. She does not buy it. He has been acting strange since she first set eyes on him hours earlier.

"You seem to be forgetting that I know you, Noah. Quite well, if I do say so myself. I know when you are lying," she states pointedly, her expression matching her tone as she stares him down.

Noah scoffs. "Really Berry? _Brody_?" he asks disbelievingly. She frowns at his tone. He sounds, dare she think it... disappointed.

"I am afraid I do not understand," she admits, her frown deepening considerably.

"Oh, don't pretend that you don't have any idea why I am less than pleased to see you here with that asshole," Noah snaps. Rachel gasps. His disdain towards Brody is very confusing and his use of such foul language towards someone he hardly knows and has only met briefly offends her greatly. "Who was it that you called in the middle of the night when you could not sleep because you were having crazy dreams about the douchebag you liked fucking your dance teacher? Who listened to you cry for hours? Who told you that you are beautiful and shouldn't be wasting your tears on said douchebag, and who sang with you until you fell asleep? Huh? Who?"

She does not reply, knowing that the crudely stated question is a rhetorical one and feeling confused by the intense rant following the question. Noah had been the one she had called in the middle of the night that night, at precisely 2:32 a.m. She had called because she had known that he would answer; he always answered. He had answered when Finn had not called within the first two weeks after he had left, he had answered when she broke up with Finn, and he had answered when she had told Finn that Lima was not her home and she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

When she woke that morning, her first thought had been to call Noah, which had made sense to her at the time, but now, she realizes that calling him had not made any sense in the least. She and Noah have never really been all that close, but he understands her and they have a connection. Their connection started in the week that they "dated" and has not disappeared since. She cannot deny it, neither can he, though they both have tried in the past couple of years.

"Why are you with him, Rachel?" She is shocked to hear him refer to her as Rachel. She knows this is a serious conversation, that what he is about to say is important. He hardly ever calls her Rachel. "He hurt you. Didn't you learn your lesson with Finn? Or with Jesse? Brody does not deserve you, just like Finn didn't and just like Jesse didn't. You deserve someone who wants you and only you and sees how great you are the instant they lay eyes on you."

Her heart is beating faster, her chest feels tighter, and her vision is blurry. "Noah..." she starts in a whisper, but she hears footsteps and snaps herself out of her weird trance-like state, blinking a few times to rid her eyes of any tears threatening to fall. She wipes at her eyes, trying to hide the evidence. Noah quickly stands. He brushes past Brody without a word. Brody flashes Rachel a confused look, but merely shrugs.

"Don't mind Noah," Rachel says, standing. "He has severe anger issues and I may have called him that night I found out that you had slept with Cassandra," she continues guiltily, still trying to understand what had just happened between her and Noah. "I apologize and I hope that you know I am no longer upset with you and I completely understand why-"

Brody cuts her off mid-rant, shutting her up with his lips, which she does not mind in the least. However, as she is kissing Brody on the bleachers of her old high school, she cannot help but think of her conversation with Noah and she cannot stop herself from picturing those hazel eyes full of such intensity, such fire.

She tries to shake the image from her mind as she deepens her kiss with Brody, but her efforts are futile. She decides then that she was right earlier, returning to Lima for the summer is a terrible idea, but it is too late to go back. She tells herself to suck it up. It is only a few months. Can't hurt to stay, right?

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **This is my first try at a Puckleberry fanfic. I actually like them and I really want to give this a shot. This chapter does not explain much, but it gives a few minor important details, like the phone call in the middle of the night and the fact that Rachel is dating Brody and wants nothing to do with Finn (which is hard for me because I am a true Finchel fan at heart, but I am simply going off the show as it is now... sort of).

The title may change. _Summer Heat _is a title I thought up too quickly and am not sure I want to keep. I might, however, depending on how this story goes. I am not sure when I can update, but I shall try to do so as quickly as possible.

Please review and be honest, simply not brutal.


	2. Chapter 2

Midnight. Rachel glares at the bright pink alarm clock on her bedside table, appalled that she has managed to stay up this long. Her sleeping habits have changed drastically since she left for New York, and yet, she somehow manages to continue forcing herself out of bed at six a.m. to continue the daily routine she started in Lima at the tender age of two.

She sighs as she sits up, replaying the events of tonight in her mind. When she arrived home from McKinley, her dad and daddy greeted her with an elaborate dinner theatre complete with several of her favorite dishes and musicals. Her dad forced herself into a leotard she has not worn since her junior year and watched as she and her daddy put on a musical she had written when she was five.

She has to admit that it was nice spending time with her dads. She has missed them immensely since leaving for school. She had not visited for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Her excuse for not making the trip had been her busy schedule, but in all actuality, she had simply not wanted to return to Lima so early. And if she wants to continue to be honest, the only reason she is here now is because Brody practically forced her hand.

She smiles at the thought of Brody. She remembers how it all started with a co-ed bathroom and only a towel around his waist. When she first made her move to New York, she was still Old Rachel, the girl who was impossibly stubborn and convinced that all her dreams would come true at the snap of her fingers, but New York and Brody have taught her it is simply not that easy. Dreams do not magically come true at the snap of a finger, but it is always good to have that optimistic attitude, that faith.

Brody and New York have knocked her down a few notches, made her calmer. She likes New Rachel; New York Rachel.

She focuses her gaze on her bedroom window, a thought entering her mind the minute she does so. She quietly climbs out of her bed, slipping her slippers on before walking towards her window, which has been open for the past couple of hours to allow fresh air into her room.

She pulls herself up until she has one foot out the window and, as she has done many times in the past but not so much since her sophomore year of high school, climbs out and carefully makes her way down the tree, an "oomph" escaping her as she realizes her landing is a bit off. She jumps up, wiping the dirt from her knees and the back of her nightgown before starting her walk down the empty street beside her house.

She is not entirely positive of where she is headed or where she even wants to go, but that is the beauty of taking a midnight stroll. She does not have to have a care in the world (then again, if Brody or her dads find out she jumped out her window, they will never let her out of their sight again, especially not Brody, but they are safe and sound and asleep in their respective bedrooms so she is positive she has nothing to worry about).

"Hey there, sweet thing." The awful attempt at a southern drawl causes her to stop mid-step. She feels her heart hammering in her chest as she finds herself going through a list of possibilities of what could happen to a beautiful, young ingenue in the middle of the night in a street with not a soul around.

The images are not pleasant ones. Instinctively, she reaches for her purse, which holds her pepper spray (pepper spray is a necessity when walking the streets of New York), but her purse is not with her. She tells herself not to panic. "Wh-who's there?" she stammers. She pulls herself together, standing up straighter and preparing herself to attack if need be. "I will have you know that I have a black belt in many forms of ancient fighting!" she exclaims, her voice firmer and her stammer gone.

The laugh she receives in response causes her tough exterior to falter just slightly. She frowns. The laugh is very familiar. "Puckerman!" she squeals disbelievingly, finally able to place a name to the laugh. She has heard it plenty of times at her expense.

Noah moves so that he is standing in front of her, trademark smirk perfectly in place on his chiseled features. She is positive that if looks could kill, one Noah Puckerman would by lying somewhere in the ditch at the moment because she is most certainly not amused.

"Do not take another step near me or I will not hesitate to run back to my home and dial the number for the local police," she threatens, half-teasingly. Noah's smirk widens, causing her glare to intensify. "Do you honestly believe that I am joking around with you? I am serious, Noah. You nearly gave me a heart attack and let me tell you something, I am too young and beautiful to have a heart attack at this particular time in my career and-"

Before she can say another word, Noah's hand is covering her mouth and she is staring at him, eyes wide. She huffs, which is her way of letting Noah know that she gets the hint and she will quit with the babbling. For now.

Seemingly satisfied, Noah removes his hand from her mouth and gives her a smile that is not really a smile, but not a smirk, either, and is kind of a mixture of both. The smile that is not a smile reminds Rachel of a time when she and Noah were not even acquaintances and he walked up to her with a slushy in his hand that she had thought was meant for her face, but he handed the cold drink to her with that smile-not-smile on his face and said,_ "I picked it up for you when I was buying dip. It's grape. I know that's your favorite because the last time I tossed a grape one in your face, you licked your lips before you cleaned yourself off."_

She feels herself blushing, which concerns her because not only is she blushing but she feels warm and tingly inside and Noah should not be making her feel such a way.

She flashes back to their conversation earlier on in the night and is reminded of the way she felt when he was screaming at her about all the times he had been there for her.

"Thank you," she blurts. She is unsure why she speaks the words, but the words 'thank you' feel right and when something feels right, Rachel never holds back. She says what is on her mind and she does what feels right regardless of the consequences. A gift and a curse, she thinks because often times it has gotten her in tremendous amounts of trouble and emotional turmoil.

Noah raises an eyebrow at her. "For what, Berry? You high or something?"

Rachel lets out of a groan. "No, I am not high... or something," she mutters. "It is just..." She pauses, unsure of what she wants to say and how to word what she wants to say, which is unusual for her, to say the least. "I just had a thought... I never thanked you for the number of times you answered my phone call in the middle of the night, regardless of whether or not you were too busy to be dealing with my sometimes overly-dramatic issues-"

Noah cuts her off. She would be annoyed at being interrupted, but with Noah, she is used to it and being around him is giving her a sense of familiarity, a sense of _home_ (this fact concerns her, but she is trying not to think too hard), and she does not want to chase him away.

"Sure, whatever," he mumbles, but she is not stupid; behind the blase expression and the disinterested tone, she can see that he is flattered by her acknowledgement of what a truly wonderful friend he has been. "No need to go all overemotional on me, Berry. I don't do feelings and shit, remember?"

Rachel adopts a serious expression, her hand moving to grasp his lower arm before she can think of what it is that she is doing. "I remember," she tells him quietly. "I also remember that it is not true. I know you, Noah. You are not as closed off and dysfunctional as you like to make the rest of the world believe you are. I remember high school, Noah," she says pointedly, "and I remember you and Quinn. I even remember you and me, the week that we spent together, and while one could not even consider what we had much of a relationship, I still remember the few secrets you shared with me. So, I call bullshit."

Noah's eyes widen after the word "bullshit" leaves her lips, which is unsurprising, but she does not allow his shock to deter her from her point. "You feel, Noah. You can continue to deny the truth for however long you feel that you must, but you cannot fool me." No response. She must say that she is surprised; it is not every day that Rachel Berry renders Noah Puckerman speechless.

"Goodnight, Noah," she whispers, running her fingers along his forearm (she wants to say this is an absentminded action, but something in the back of her mind is screaming at her that it is much more than that) before turning and heading towards her home. She needs her beauty sleep, after all.

* * *

Puck is annoyed. Utterly annoyed.

He groans as he rolls over, accidentally falling off his bed and hitting the floor with a loud _thunk. _He rubs his shaved head as he pulls himself up and does his morning push-ups before kind of dragging himself down the stairs and into the Chang family's kitchen, where Mike is already seated at the table eating breakfast.

"Morning, bro," Mike greets him over a mouthful of eggs. Puck rummages through the cabinets before spotting a box of cereal and grabbing it. He grabs for a bowl and pours some into it before adding milk and joining Mike at the table. "Rough night, dude? You look like hell. No offense."

Puck takes a bite of his food before answering. "I kind of scared the shit out of Berry last night. Saw her sneaking out her window and decided it would be a good idea and kind of fucking hysterical to be a total creeper, which somehow led to a lecture on feelings and shit hence the reason I look like hell."

Mike opens his mouth, but Puck interrupts with, "And no, I don't want to talk about it, Chang. Don't be such a fucking pansy."

Mike looks concerned, but drops the subject anyway which is good because Puck would probably punch him point blank if he even dared to continue prodding.

He does not understand why he is so rattled by last night. So Berry called him out on some shit? She has done that often in the past. He is used to it, or at least, he _should_ be used to it by now. He does not know why it irks him so much. He supposes it does because how the hell does Berry know so much about him, anyway? It isn't like they were ever friends in high school. Sure, they were acquaintances and they had dated that one time and yes, okay, he _did _answer her phone calls in the middle of the night even if he was catching up on sleep or studying for a test, but that does not mean anything. Nothing important, right?

"You sure you're okay, man?" Mike asks, frowning.

Puck looks up, dropping his spoon into his cereal. "Honestly?" Mike nods. Puck shrugs. "I think I may be going crazy. Who knew Berry's crazy was contagious?"

He is trying to make a joke, but this situation he has found himself in is not funny in the least. Not that he is even sure there is a situation. He feels like there might be because Berry's opinion matters to him all of the sudden and just thinking of her with that asshole who fucked her slutty dance teacher makes him want to beat someone up or kill things.

He looks at his hands, which are balled into fists, and then looks up at Mike, who is staring at him, obviously bewildered by Puck's sudden, apparent anger. "Want to kill some zombies?" Puck blurts, shoving his bowl aside and standing from the table.

Mike looks like he wants to ask a million questions, but he refrains and stands, which Puck is thankful for. "Hell yeah!" he exclaims, and as they both enter the living room and plop down on the couch after Puck turns the tv on, Puck does everything in his power to push aside thoughts of Rachel Berry.

But, as it turns out, not even the awesome of killing zombies can get the tiny diva off his mind. He pauses the game, which has Mike looking at him like he has grown three heads and six sets of eyes.

"What?" he snaps, tossing aside his controller and burying his head in his hands. He can feel Mike looking at him but he refuses to share the thoughts running through his mind; thoughts of Berry and the first time he tasted her soft lips. He also finds himself thinking of that last phone call. He recalls perfectly the soft tone of her voice, like she was a broken doll who needed to be pieced together again, and before he can do anything to stop it from happening, he finds himself taking an unwanted trip down memory lane.

_Puck huffed, balling up a blank sheet of paper and tossing it in the trash. It had not been completely blank, but that was beside the point. He had been trying and failing for the past hour to write a new song for his music class. His professor had asked him to write the group performance number and, while he appreciated the gesture and truly was thrilled, he was having a hard time remaining overjoyed because writing this song was turning out to be a pain in his ass._

_Just after he had taken out a new piece of paper and set it out before him, he felt a vibration against his leg. Out of anger and obvious frustration, he tossed his pen across the room and grabbed for his phone. He was surprised to see who was calling him. Rachel. He had not heard from her since her last phone call. He had yet to figure out why, but Berry had taken on this new thing where she called him anytime she was going through some serious emotional shit. _

_"'Sup, Berry?" he greeted her, but he quickly shut up when he heard the sniffling. Most people would have a hard time hearing it because when Berry cried nowadays, unlike in high school, she did this thing where she sobbed quietly, like she wanted no one to hear her which made perfect sense in Puck's mind. _

_"Shit, babe, you all right?" He did not know why, but on top of continuing to refer to her as Berry (sometimes he caved and called her Rachel but only when he was feeling like a pansy ass), he had also taken to calling her babe. Which was odd because she was not his babe and would never be (again, anyway)._

_"He...I... God, I am so stupid!" she cried and the sound of her tears tore at his heartstrings. Puck had never been one for being a softy, but when it came to women, especially Rachel (he tried to ignore that she was a special exception when it pertained to quite a few things in his life), he could not stand to hear them cry and he found himself wanting to do everything in his power to make that girl feel better. Especially if that girl happened to be one Rachel Barbra Berry. _

_"Whose face do I have to permanently fuck up?" he asked and he was completely serious, though his words caused Berry to chuckle through her sobs which was just an added bonus to being a total badass. He liked that he could make her laugh when all that she really wanted to do was cry for hours. It made him feel as though he was doing some good on this godforsaken planet. "I'm serious, babe. I will kill the douchebag who made you cry. Nobody makes Berry cry and gets away with it on my watch. Not anymore." He added the last part because he remembered a time when he was the one who made her cry. He would hate himself a little for the rest of his life for ever having the audacity to hurt someone as amazing as Berry._

_He thought maybe he was so overprotective because he wanted to make up for all the times he had been the one hurting her. "Berry, you still there?" he asked after a moment, growing a little worried. It was not like Berry to be quiet, but he had learned that when she was sad, she hardly said a single word, which made sense. But he did not like it and he was going to kill the bastard who made Berry be silent and sad. _

_"First Finn and then Jesse and now Brody..." Berry interrupted his train of thought. She sounded better; a little less broken, a lot confused and hurt. "Why is it that anytime I find myself interested in a guy, they manage to somehow prove to me that they are nothing like I originally thought them to be? Do I not deserve the happily ever after I have spent years of my life dreaming of? I want the white picket fence and the pink shudders, which I will compromise and rethink the pink if my husband is nice about it-" She sighed, cutting herself off mid-rant, which was unlike Berry. _

_Puck found himself at a loss. He had so many words he wanted to say to Berry, but he was lost on how to articulate them without sounding like a babbling fool. "Is it because of my personality, Noah? Am I too abrasive, too insane? I am the girl that had you wanting to light yourself on fire, after all. Maybe you are not the only one who feels such a way when they are forced to deal with me." _

_Puck decided then to not allow her to get another word in. He knew exactly what he wanted to say. "Shut up right now, Berry," he began and he heard her gasp on the other end, which made him chuckle, but he continued as seriously as he had started. "Yes, you are crazy," he heard her scoff but ignored it, "but it is like this good kind of crazy that is surprisingly endearing and the crazy is what made the glee club, in its entirety, love you so much. _

_"Shit. I may have said you made me want to light myself on fire, and at the time, you kind of did, but so what? I was wrong in ever judging you so cruelly and I've owned up to my mistakes because that is what a real man does," he refrained from saying a real badass because he figured that was inappropriate at the time and he was trying to be supportive, "not a boy. Finn, Jesse, and this Brody asshole are all dicks and boys for hurting someone as amazing as you, Rachel..." _

_He started to say something more, but Rachel cut him off. "You called me Rachel," she breathed. She sounded light and happy and like the Berry he knew, which made him feel really good. Almost too good. It confused him. "I have to go, Noah. I apologize for calling you at such an ungodly hour. I know how you need your sleep." _

_"I'm good, Berry and it was no problem. Honest," he told her. He was smiling, which was unusual because Puck never really smiled, but he felt good. "Goodnight, crazy."  
_

_He heard her laugh and he felt even better. "Sweet dreams, Noah," she whispered before hanging up the phone, and though it made absolutely no sense to him at all, after Berry hung up and he put his phone back in his pocket, his mind flooded with the song lyrics he had been missing._

"I think he is sleeping." The female voice drags him from the memory, for which he is thankful. He looks up to see that Tina has magically appeared in Mike's living room. Okay, maybe not magically. She was probably already at Mike's because Mike and Tina decided to start dating again a few weeks before Tina's graduation.

"Shut it, you two," Puck snaps. "Let's kill some zombies," he says to Mike. Mike stares at him, confused, but continues to not state the questions Puck knows that he is just _dying_ to ask. He looks at Tina. "You, too, Asian," he says, tossing her the third controller before allowing himself to drift into his own world of zombies, but the pretty brunette girl stays on his mind even as he kicks zombie ass.

He is _so _fucked... and not in the good way.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I am seriously winging it with this. Expect chapter three soon-ish.

Thanks for the kind reviews. I truly appreciate it. And yes, Puck is the having inner turmoil about why he cannot stop thinking of the tiny diva. I love it. lol.


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel attempts to roll over to glance at her alarm clock (she knows that it is most likely well past six a.m., her usual waking time), but she finds herself slamming into a hard body and immediately jumps up, startled. She immediately calms down when she realizes that it is only Brody and she smiles sweetly while taking in his sleeping figure. He looks peaceful, like he hasn't a care in the world. She likes Brody the way he is now, all peaceful and silent. She likes him millions of other ways, of course, but lying with him is always nice.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Brody murmurs groggily, lifting his head to look at her. He rolls onto his back and Rachel moves so that her head is resting comfortably on his bare chest.

"When, exactly, did you switch bedrooms?" Rachel asks curiously. "You had to have been unusually quiet in order to sneak in here without me noticing," she remarks, her lips twitching just a tad.

Brody grins that sexy grin that dragged her in on day one and has yet to let her go since. "I tiptoed in here at about two in the morning. Found I couldn't sleep without you next to me."

His words are corny, but she finds her heart fluttering despite her best efforts to _not _be such a girl. She instantly attaches her lips to his, kissing him passionately before maneuvering herself so that she is straddling his lap. She leans down, reclaiming his lips. She grinds into him and she finds herself smirking as he fights back a groan while swiping his tongue along her bottom lip, as if asking permission to taste her. She grants him said permission and their tongues are practically at war (which, admittedly, does not sound hot at all but totally is) as she slips her hands under his shirt, scratching at the skin just enough to get him going. It is only when she feels something hard pressing against her center that she snaps herself out of her sexual trance and remembers that she is currently holed up in her old bedroom in her old home, where her dads are probably making breakfast downstairs (or lunch depending on the time; she has yet to look).

She pulls away from Brody, causing him to groan as she rolls over and onto the other side of the bed. He tries to stop her, but does not catch her in time.

"Rachel," Brody groans, rolling onto his side to look at her with wide, dark eyes. She chews her bottom lip into her mouth, watching him intensely before forcing herself to reel in her hormones. "Why'd you stop?" His whining is somewhat cute, but she cannot give into him. No having sex under the roof of her childhood home while her dads are home.

"I am a lady, Brody, unlike most young women my age and I do not wish to have sex, no matter how tempting, while my dads are downstairs," she explains as though it should be obvious to him, which she believes it should be. "Any respectful young gentleman would respect my decision," she says, half teasing, half serious.

"I respect your decision, Rach," he grumbles. She does not fully believe him, but she will accept his response and drop the conversation, should he become more frustrated by continuing the conversation about specific actions she refuses to take at the moment.

She glances at her alarm clock, her eyes widening considerably at the time flashing back at her in big, red numbers. "I cannot believe I slept until nearly twelve-thirty!" she exclaims, aghast. She has not slept in since she was a child. She feels disappointed in herself, but she will let it slide considering she did decide to take a midnight stroll.

She feels warmth at the thought of her midnight stroll and finds herself blushing. Fortunately for her, she can write her blushing off as embarrassment from what almost took place between herself and her boyfriend. Her rationale does not erase her guilt, however. Enjoying Noah's company is nothing to feel guilty for, of course, but how much she enjoyed his company is definitely not acceptable for a young woman in a committed relationship.

"Rachel, Brody, lunch!" her dad calls from downstairs. She beams at Brody before jumping out of bed. She looks down, realizing she is only wearing her nightgown. Brody stands, revealing himself in only grey sweatpants. She throws his shirt at him.

"Please put your shirt on before going downstairs," she pleads with him, her cheeks undoubtedly tinged with pink. Brody grins, but obliges and pulls his shirt over his head. "I'll meet you downstairs briefly," she informs him, giving him a chaste kiss before kicking him out of her room and shutting the door behind her.

After removing her nightgown and changing into more suitable clothing for a family lunch, she grabs her brush and brushes through the tangles in her hair and then makes her way downstairs, joining her dads and Brody in the kitchen. The three are seated at the dining room table quietly eating their lunch. They look up as she sits down and her dads smile at her. She smiles in return.

"Good morning, dad, daddy," she greets them, leaning over the table and giving each of them a kiss on the cheek before resuming a sitting position. Brody smirks at her from across the table; the smirk reminds her almost of Noah and she tries to smile but the effort is futile because how can she smile when she is with one man and thinking of another? Her thoughts hardly make sense to her because she has not seen Noah in over a year and only has spoken to him in times of need... and why does it matter to her? Why does _he _matter to her?

"What are your plans for today?" Daddy asks, taking a bite of his eggs. She does not like eggs, but she respects that Brody is a man and that her dads enjoy their nutritional habits, so she will not be unfair in asking them to pretty please _not _eat eggs or any other substance of the sort around her.

Ever since being forced into McDonalds with Quinn her senior year, she has found it somewhat impossible to be angry with anyone who drags her out of her comfort zone. Sometimes it is okay to escape her comfort zone, to be the girl no one expects her to be while still being the girl that she wants to be.

"I had plans to go to the gym, but being that I slept in far too late, I cannot go today because my session was at seven a.m. this morning," Rachel starts, feeling frustrated with herself. While she has accepted that it is okay to wake up six or so hours past her scheduled morning routine, it is not okay to mess with her gym routine. Her physique is as fantastic as it is for a specific reason; she did not earn it in one night and she is still fighting to keep the perfect figure for dance and for her boyfriend. She may be more confident than she ever has been, but despite that, she is still a young woman.

"Sweetheart, you do not always have to follow every schedule we have ever made for you," her daddy explains, his tone much softer than his husband's. Her dad has always been more protective. He was the one threatening to be waiting with a shotgun when she had her first date. He was the one who wanted to murder Finn with his bare hands the first time he ever used Rachel for his own benefit. "We love you, but you are not a little girl anymore."

She knows that her dad loves her; her daddy does, too, but he is much more of a softy. He wants Rachel to appreciate him, to look up to him and follow in his footsteps, and dad simply wants to keep her from harming herself anymore than she already has when it pertains to her emotions.

"I live for what I know," Rachel explains, taking a bite of the delicious lunch her dads have prepared for her. "I want to continue being your little girl, but I know not everything can remain the same. I am not the little girl who sat on daddy's boat speaking of Prince Charming and wishing for Happily Ever After. I know the difference between real and unreal. I know what can happen and what cannot. My only issue is knowing what should be and what should not..."

She pauses, her words hitting her a lot harder than she intends, but she means them. She does not know the difference between her relationship with Brody and what she had with Finn. Is she using Brody to let go of Finn or does she even really care about Finn anymore? She does not think she does, but how can she know for sure?

How can she possibly know what should be and what should not be? How can she know a right relationship from a wrong relationship?

Rachel shakes her head, forcing the thoughts aside. She cannot think so seriously right now. She cannot think so seriously _ever _because she and Finn are over and he does not matter to her anymore... but what about Noah?

Noah matters to her, more than she ever thought possible, but what to do, what to do? Does she allow him to get under her skin or does she continue to pretend he is merely a non-important acquaintance in her life?

"You all right, tiny dancer?" Brody questions, nudging Rachel with his elbow. She pushes all previous thoughts to the back of her mind, storing them for later, though hopefully she will not have to rethink about them. She does not like being confused. She _knows _she is over Finn. Her thought before was absolutely ridiculous; she is not using Brody to get over Finn. She does not care about him anymore. The other thoughts, however, the ones on Noah... she does not know what to think.

"Of course, silly," Rachel says, her voice a little squeaky. The squeakiness is a telltale sign of her lying, but Brody does not seem to catch it. Her daddy does, however, and he flashes her a knowing look, which she kindly ignores.

She wants to enjoy lunch with her family and her boyfriend, her boyfriend whom she cares deeply for. She does not want anything to be confusing anymore.

XXX

Noah slings his arm around Rachel's waist, surprised to see her, but at the same time, pleased. She forces herself to smile, but is finding it complicated because she can feel two pairs of eyes on her. She knows the first pair of eyes belongs to Noah, who is holding onto her in a way he has not since that one week they dated and she knows the other set belongs to Brody, her _boyfriend _who does not want another man touching her in any way.

She thinks maybe it should remain that way and prays that it does, but her prayers are not granted as she soon finds out when Noah grabs her by the arm and drags her out of her house.

She whirls around so that she is facing him, hands on her hips. She is not leaving her dads and her boyfriend without a fight, that much she knows for certain. "What is it, exactly, that you want with me, Noah?" she wonders, her eyebrows raising in disbelief at everything he has done since she arrived in Lima a few days prier.

"I want you to visit the choir room with me, Tina, Mercedes, Santana, and Mike and then you can return to your new world," Noah tells her and she finds herself agreeing to spend time with the five of them. She says her goodbyes to Brody, promising that she will return later in the night for alone time which she does intend to attend because they have not had alone time since she has arrived.

A blush creeps onto her cheeks as she thinks of the many times they _have_ had alone time, but her thoughts are cut short as she meets Noah's gaze. "What is the meaning of all of this?" she asks as she follows him into Mike Chang's home. It is the first home she has actually felt at home in since she has arrived.

She loves her dads, but they are trying too hard to recreate the past. Her friends are simply giving her more reason to focus on the present, which is something she rarely does so she may as well enjoy it while she can.

"The meaning of all of this is to get you to admit that you are totally hot for me, Berry." The very familiar female voice cuts through Rachel's thoughts. She grins widely as she turns, finding herself facing Santana. The two have not spoken in months, but their friendship is still as strong and fantastic as the day they stopped speaking due to their busy schedule.

Rachel feels awful for ever having lost contact with any of her friends. Even Santana, the one who gave her the most hell in high school aside from Quinn. After graduation, none if it had seemed to matter anymore. Glee had brought everyone closer, that much every single one of them could admit.

"Sorry," Rachel murmurs with a grin, slightly amused. "I am totally hot for my boyfriend. I hate to disappoint, but that is just the way that it is. I am afraid you got here too late."

Santana chuckles. Rachel would laugh, too, but the look on Santana's face is freaking her out because she knows that look. It is the determined Santana look she is all-too-familiar with and she does not want a repeat of her senior year due to the look. "You will so get your happily ever after if I don't barf first, Rach. Trust me," Santana tells her. Rachel does not know how to respond to the words, so she smiles, hoping that the gesture is good enough to convince Santana to back off, though she doubts it, knowing her luck.

"I am already very happy, though, San," Rachel argues, glaring at Santana, but the glare is not as intense as usual because Santana typically frightens the hell out of Rachel. She may not be High School Rachel anymore, but even New York Rachel is terrified of Santana Lopez. "I appreciate your efforts to help me, but I have Brody and I could not be happier. I love you, hon, but I have control over my own love life."

Santana laughs at the comment. "Yeah, right, Berry," she drawls, pulling Noah over to the both of them. Tina and Mike watch on in amusement. "Tell the girl how you feel, sex shark," Santana snaps, "or you won't get a chance again. Ever. Trust me," she mutters before walking away from him and storming out his front door. She figures she is speaking from personal experience because Brittany is currently with Artie again, but it is not like it matters; it will always be Santana and Brittany.

Then again, Rachel thought it would forever be her and Finn and she and Finn did not work out. Rachel thinks back to what Santana said about the self-proclaimed sex shark himself. Noah honestly is not that bad and she does not have to worry about Brody trying to find her until at least five 'o' clock, later on in the day. She can spend some time with Noah and then return home; no harm done and no questions asked because Brody has made the mistake of trusting her.

She did not think it was a mistake at first, but after having spent time with Noah, she thinks maybe something is wrong with her. She hasn't a clue what, but something is not right. Something is keeping her from being a typical girlfriend.

And what exactly was Santana statement to Noah all about? How _does _he feel about her? She tells her mind to shut up. She does not want, nor need, to know how he feels about her.

"May I be your muse for tonight's karaoke session?" she asks randomly, pushing her thoughts aside, her gaze fully focused on Noah.

He smirks that trademark smirk of his and she finds herself melting even though she shouldn't be feeling such a way unless Brody is the one around. "You've been my muse for a long time, Berry," he whispers, so quietly that he is not sure he is entirely understandable, which is probably for the best. "I hope you don't hate me after summer time." She hears Puck speaking, but does not hear the last part of his sentence clearly due to the music. She supposes it does not matter considering he looks relieved at her having not heard him.

She has not a single clue what is going on between her and Noah, but something is different, something has changed, and she is determined to find out _what_. She does not care if it kills her or makes her look like a bad girlfriend. Noah is not acting like typical _Puck _and she wants to know why, even if it costs her the one relationship she has been happy with in the past year.

Time does not matter. Her relationship does not matter (okay, so, her relationship does matter and she may possibly being going crazy, but she is going to pretend it doesn't matter simply for today). She just wants Noah to be make sense to her again and once more, she hasn't a clue why he matters to her so much, but he does.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **This chapter is the same day as the last chapter and the next chapter will continue on into the same day. After that, the story will begin moving a little faster. Rachel clearly does have feelings for Brody, but what is she feeling for Noah? Find out more as the story goes on.

I appreciate the reviews and the support. Thank you so so so much, Puckleberry lovers. Also I just changed this chapter a little because I realized that what I posted last night made absolutely no sense. I think I moved around some paragraphs on accident when I was clicking and did not realize it. So here is the new and improved chapter three.


	4. Chapter 4

"You know, for someone who claims to not give a shit about Berry, you sure are watching her like she is the only chick that matters to you."

Puck does not bother looking to his left. He crosses his arms over his chest and keeps his gaze focused on the petite brunette running around Mike Chang's backyard while being chased by Brittany who is spraying everyone down with a water hose. Which is really hot because now Tina and Rachel's shirts are clinging to their skin and are a little see-through. Not that he is completely paying attention to Tina because one, Mike would kill him (well, he would try, but Puck's badassery is totally unbeatable, even now) and two, Berry has a smokin' hot body. Truthfully, he has always thought so, but New York has truly done her a favor and he is _not _complaining.

"You gonna join them, San? Haven't seen your hot ass in a while," Puck remarks crudely, finally looking at his Latina friend who keeps swearing he likes Berry (something she has been swearing long before Rachel returned from New York the day before), which could not be more untrue. Yeah, he likes Berry, but not in the way Santana keeps insisting that he does. Even if he did, which he _doesn't_, but just _if_... it honestly would not make a difference because she is with Brody who Puck is still convinced is a gigantic asshole and a pathetic excuse for a man.

"I care about Berry, San, that's about as deep as my fucking feelings go. Plus, not even the sex shark can handle that amount of crazy." He cannot believe is talking about this. The Puckerone does not do feelings because feelings are for girls and guys like Kurt. And he is not only thinking about gays because Finn is as straight as a straw (one of the normal straws, not a bendy straw or one of those super girly straws because then Finn would _not_ be straight) and he takes the term "girly man" to a whole new level with his pansy talk.

"Whatever," Santana mutters. "I don't do feelings, either, _Puckerone_, but even I know when to stop being a stubborn ass and admit defeat. You should try it. Just do it sooner than I did or you might lose her." Santana's tone is soft and her gaze is no longer on Puck; it is on Brittany.

He clears his throat and pats Santana's shoulder awkwardly. He is unsure how to comfort her because she's the "notorious" Santana Lopez and she is not easily comforted like girls such as Berry and Quinn. She is on the same level as Puck when it comes to feelings and shit; they just don't know how to handle their emotions properly or even portray them, hence the reason Santana is continuing to beat herself up for allowing Brittany to get away once again.

Santana shrugs her hand off his shoulder and runs out into the grass, jumping into the line of fire. He smirks. Four wet chicks. He can totally get on board with that.

Still, his gaze is only focused on one.

XXX

She is wearing Noah's over-sized t-shirt and Santana's McKinley cheer leading shorts. She does not know why wearing Noah's t-shirt is bothering her so immensely, but it kind of makes sense that it is bothering her because she is almost positive Brody will not be too pleased to see her in another man's shirt when she returns home.

She is starting to wish that Brittany hadn't decided to chase her with a water hose so that she would not have been soaking wet to the point where her shirt clung to her like glue, which had been bothersome to the point of severe discomfort. That is how she ended up in Noah's t-shirt, a fact that is still driving her utterly insane and it does not help that Noah's gaze seems to be permanently attached to her.

She recognizes the look in his eyes all-too-well and she flashes back to that heated night in her room with a Christina Aguilera song and the question _Wanna make out? _and his strong arms. She recalls the way he handled her, a mixture of rough and gentle all at once; tongue, teeth, and nails and the feel of rough skin under her fingertips. He is giving her the same look she received that night; one of pure, unadulterated lust and that look that screams that he wants to take her home and do unspeakable things to her. A look he should not be giving her and she should not be physically responding to (which she isn't, but she wants to so badly even though she knows how wrong it is to be thinking of Noah in such a way), but his gaze is making her feel sexy and incredibly naked even though she is aware that she is fully clothed.

"You two should seriously fuck and get it over with." Santana's comment has Rachel staring at her in disbelief and Noah looking at her like he wants to murder her. Mike, Tina, and Brittany are laughing, clearly enjoying the discomfort of herself and Noah. Meanwhile, Santana looks extremely pleased with herself.

"Santana!" Rachel cries indignantly. She would say that she cannot believe Santana has the audacity to say such a thing, but it is Santana and Santana is not known for having a filter. She says what she is thinking. Rachel does the same, but the difference between Rachel and Santana is that Rachel knows when to _not _say something and Santana knows when, but she just does not care.

Rachel huffs and storms into Mike's house, making a point of slamming the door shut behind her to indicate how not amused she is with her ridiculously, unnecessarily blunt friend.

A moment later, she hears the door open and looks up when she hears it close. Noah is leaning against the inside of the door. His shirt is off and inside, she is fighting to ignore how shirtless Noah affects her because at least outside he was not the only one around and she could focus on anyone but him. Right now, it is just Rachel and Noah. Rachel does not know how Noah feels, but she knows that she cannot handle being alone with him.

She tries telling herself that she is with Brody, but she knows her efforts to not focus on how attractive Noah is are pointless and will simply lead to a major headache.

"Sorry for San. She's a bitch," Noah apologizes, striding over to the couch and seating himself beside her. The distance between them is not a comfortable one; she can feel the heat emanating from his body and it does not help that his arm is brushing against hers, causing goosebumps to break out all over her skin, which is stupid because it is over ninety degrees outside.

Rachel shrugs, pretending that what Santana said outside does not bother her in the least, though that cannot be further from the truth because it is bothering her a lot more than it should be. "_Please_." Rachel tries to laugh, but it comes out sounding choked, causing Noah to quirk a brow at her. She ignores his expression. "Are you forgetting that I am entirely too used to Santana by now? I love her to pieces and she is a fantastic person underneath that tough exterior of hers that she uses to protect herself, but I have not forgotten how she spent most of our childhood and high school career making my life miserable.

"I know how she is, Noah. I have retrained my mind to not take offense to anything Santana says or does," she finishes. It is true. Sometime after she had joined glee, Rachel had learned to let Santana's comments slide right off her shoulders. The metaphorical blows had hurt a lot less that way.

"Yeah, well, not all of us are that advanced, Berry," Noah remarks teasingly and smiles that smile-not-smile which does not make being here with him any easier on her. "And know that she is so wrong, okay? I like you, Berry, but in like, the way I like dogs." Rachel scoffs, smacking him on the arm. She cannot believe he just compared her to a dog! It is Noah, though, and he has never been good with words. "No, I-what I meant was..." he tries to backtrack, but he sighs, appearing frustrated with himself, and stops talking.

She bursts out laughing, but immediately shuts up when Noah glares at her. "I apologize," she says in between soft chuckles before calming herself down enough to be serious. "There is no need for you to explain. We are friends, Noah. Nothing more and nothing less. I am with Brody," she does not miss the way Noah's jaw twitches at the mention of her boyfriend, "and Santana is deluding herself into thinking she can play matchmaker between two of her friends."

"Right," Noah agrees, but she does not believe he is completely agreeing. She tries not to think too hard on that because she has been thinking too much for one afternoon and it has to stop or she really will be the crazy girl everyone is convinced she is.

* * *

"_What _are you wearing?" She is greeted at the front door of her home by her boyfriend who does not look happy. She should have ordered Brittany to wash her wet clothing, but she likes the way she looks in Noah's shirt and it smells like him...

_This is not good_, she thinks because it is really _not_ good to be thinking of how Noah's shirt smells like his cologne which she has always loved the smell of and...

She snaps herself out of it. Brody asked her a question. She should probably answer before he grows suspicious and starts asking more questions that she is positive she will not have the answer to because she does not even know how to answer the questions for herself. Not that she has actually done anything, but she counts her thoughts as cheating. Mentally cheating, anyway, which she believes is a real thing because thinking of another man the way that she thinks of her boyfriend (honestly, her thoughts of Noah are stronger and more frequent than thoughts of Brody) is still cheating in her mind.

"Oh this thing," she says dryly as if it is of no importance that she is donning Noah's over-sized tee. "Brittany chased me around Mike's backyard with a water hose and I was soaked from head to toe. I needed a change of clothes, so Santana lent me her cheer leading shorts and Noah was nice enough to loan me one of his t-shirts."

There is a long pause and Rachel is racking her brain for something to say, _anything_, but she cannot think of anything and she does not know why she feels the need to defend herself when she has not done anything wrong. She knows that is not true though because her thoughts are wrong and the way she feels is wrong. Everything is wrong and nothing feels right anymore and she has not even been in Lima for forty-eight hours and she is already beginning to feel a little like Old Rachel, the confused young girl whose boy problems controlled her throughout high school.

"Brody, you really have no reason to be upset with me, if you are upset that is and if you are not then I apologize for assuming. You know what they say when we humans assume... Of course, I shall not repeat the saying because it is far too crass for me and I do not want to use such foul language in my-"

Brody cuts her off with his lips. She makes a small sound of surprise, but responds instantly to the kiss, standing on her tiptoes to give her a better height advantage. Brody grips her waist and pulls her closer, pressing her against his front. Her hands trail up the back of his shirt and she drags her nails across his skin, causing him to emit a groan and she is thankful that her dad and daddy are not home because they would not be pleased to see what is taking place in their living room.

"Bedroom," she whispers against his lips, her breathing shallow. He lifts her up, their lips still attached and the kiss growing more passionate, and she wraps her legs around his waist as he starts walking backwards, carrying her towards the stairs. They manage to make it up the first step before Rachel hears her front door being slammed shut and she jumps out of Brody's arms as though he has caught on fire, effortlessly landing on her feet.

"Oh my!" she hears the familiar voice of Kurt exclaim. "I am so sorry, Rachel. I could always come back later-"

"No, that is perfectly fine," Rachel interrupts him. She can see Brody out of the corner of her eye and he does not look like he agrees with Kurt staying being perfectly fine, but she gives him an admonishing look and he pouts but fixes his shirt and silent agrees to behave anyway.

"This was not how I was expecting to be greeted when I finally graced you with my presence, but I suppose it will do." Kurt's dramatic tone causes Rachel to giggle as she flings herself at him, giving him one of her infamous bear hugs.

"For the love of Streisand, Rach, you act like you haven't seen me in ages," Kurt remarks comically. Rachel releases her hold on him and takes a few steps back until she is standing beside Brody, who immediately wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into his side, and for the first time since they made their relationship official, she has the thought that she does not quite fit in this particular spot on his side.

She can ignore a lot of things, but she is unsure how to ignore such an important thought, but she will for as long as she can so as not to ruin summer for anyone, including herself.

"Why, of course, I would act such a way," Rachel starts dramatically. "I see your face every single day. Spending every waking hour with you is routine and you know how I feel about routine. Routine is key."

Kurt makes a face at her. "Cute," he replies flatly. "You've been hanging with Puck, haven't you?"

She feels Brody tense beside her at the mention of Noah. She intertwines their fingers, placing their joint hands over her heart, trying to reassure him that he has nothing to worry about.

"Only slightly, but no matter... what is it that you wanted to ask?" Kurt opens his mouth so as to speak, but she cuts him off. "And do not even say that you are here to ask me nothing because I know you and you would not leave Blaine unless you were in desperate need of something... or rather, _want _of something."

She hears Brody chuckle and smacks him, quickly shutting him up. "I merely wanted to ask my best friend and her wonderful boyfriend to join myself and my very amazing boyfriend for dinner tonight. There is no need to give me the third degree. Burns do not look good on my skin." Rachel laughs in good humor at her best friend's lame attempt at a joke, though Kurt does not treat his skin as a joke too often. He has a skin regimen, one that she must say does him well because his skin is always baby soft.

"I think I speak for Brody and myself when I say that we would be more than honored to join the two of you for dinner," she tells Kurt, and then she focuses her gaze on Brody. "Am I correct in assuming you will attend? You have met Blaine before briefly. He is not a bad guy, honest." The one time Brody met Blaine was the night Blaine revealed that he had cheated on Kurt, but that is in the past and he and Kurt have been going strong for a few months. They decided to start dating again not long after Rachel agreed to be Brody's girlfriend.

"Sure," Brody says with a shrug. He does not seem to care either way, which is acceptable enough for her and seems to be acceptable enough for Kurt.

"I'll see the two of you around six then," Kurt says before opening the door. He turns to look at them one more time, standing with one foot out the door and the other inside. "You two can get back to whatever it is I interrupted. Try not to have too much fun. No making babies until you are married!"

Rachel tears herself away from Brody and starts heading towards Kurt, but Kurt is out the door before she can reach him. She huffs, but she does not feel like chasing him so she decides to let it go. For now.

Brody grabs her by the hand and yanks her over to him, pressing her body tightly against his own. He wraps his arms securely around her waist and she smiles fondly up at him. "What do you say? Bedroom?" He sounds hopeful, but if Rachel is being completely honest (which she has not been very honest with Brody nor herself in the past twelve hours or longer, not since she ran into Noah at McKinley the previous night), her sex drive is not nearly as strong as it was before Kurt showed up.

Her long pause must have answered Brody's question because he pouts and kisses the top of her head affectionately. "Want to watch _Funny Girl_?" he suggests and Rachel beams, squeezing him tightly. "I'll take that as a yes," he says with a laugh before she extracts herself from his hold and runs over to the couch, plopping down. Brody joins her a few minutes after putting the movie in and sits down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leans into him, feeling comfortable, but something is nagging at her brain as the movie begins and she has a hard time focusing.

She has officially decided that because of Noah Puckerman, she is in _big _trouble. She just is not sure what kind of trouble... yet.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Another chapter in. I am growing more and more inspired for this story. Thank you again for the reviews. Expect more Puckleberry in the chapters to follow. Also expect a time jump a couple of chapters from now. I want to get this story moving along. I know everyone is sick of Brody and Rachel, but I promise Puckleberry will be focused on a lot more very soon.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING LOVELIES.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dude, we need to talk." Puck turns at the voice, a scowl immediately taking over his expression when he sees who it is that has dared to use such a rude tone with him.

It is now the middle of June. It has been a couple of weeks since he returned to Lima and he has spent the last couple of weeks fighting _not_ to knock all of Brody's teeth out anytime he sees the asshole with Berry.

He is not going to lie to himself anymore; he can lie to Santana and to Quinn and to everyone else who claims he is jealous of Brody, but the one person he cannot lie to is himself. He, Noah Puckerman, is _jealous_, and yeah, he knows that is _so not _bad ass, but if anyone is worth not being bad ass for, it is totally Rachel Berry.

She deserves better than someone who doubts how sincere and wonderful she is just because she canceled on _one date _to return to her home town to see her friends perform in a school play and then fucks her dance teacher (seriously, Puck is all about cougars and shit, but a cougar over Berry? Not cool).

"We don't have anything to talk about, man," Puck says because he knows that Berry cares about Brody and she will probably hate him forever if he breaks her 'no-violence code' (she ingrained said code into his head after the first phone call she ever made to him and he threatened to do some very unspeakable, gory things to Finn Hudson with a chainsaw), and since he is fighting to remain on Berry's good side, he doesn't want to give her a reason to be all disappointed in him. Especially because when she gets disappointed, she has this sad look in her eyes and he always feel like he just killed Bambi's mother or something.

Puck turns to walk away, but he feels Brody's hand wrap around his bicep and he tenses, stopping dead in his tracks. _No fucking way _did that asshole just touch him. He shakes Brody's hand off because Brody may be big, but he is still Noah Puckerman and he is still the bad ass to beat all bad asses.

"Don't touch me again," Puck says through gritted teeth. He cranes his neck to look at Brody, his expression livid. He _is _livid, but he will ignore it. He just has to keep reminding himself that he is behaving for Rachel, and for Rachel only, because if Berry ever gave him permission, he would grab Brody by the neck and choke him until he begged for mercy without giving it another thought.

Well, maybe he wouldn't be _that _violent with it because he is not that Lima Loser kid anymore, but he would definitely leave some bruises on Brody's pretty boy face.

"Stay away from my girlfriend." There is no question in the words, no smile... simply, a statement of fact. Brody wants Puck to stay away from Berry.

"Sure, okay," he mutters with a shrug. If he wants Brody to leave him alone and get the hell away from him before he does something he will end up regretting (and the _only _reason he would regret it is because he would lose Rach and that would definitely suck more than losing a hand or an eye from getting his ass kicked), he has to lie and agree to stay away from Berry. Like hell he actually will, though, but it is always better to lie than continue on and get himself into trouble with the fiery diva.

Brody looks skeptical and Puck merely forces a smile onto his face, trying to assure Brody that everything is going to be hunky dory. "Honestly, dude, I'll stay away from her. I know when to respect a bro. You want me to stay away?" Brody nods, looking a little less skeptical than before. "Then I'll stay away."

"Cool. Thanks, dude," Brody thanks him awkwardly, looking and sounding utterly confused before turning and heading back in the direction he came from, which just so happens to be the direction of the coffee shop and _not _Berry's house. He does not see Berry's bright pink car anywhere around, which means she must be at home and he can sneak in a little time with her before her jerk of a boyfriend returns to do god-knows-what with her.

He grimaces at the thought of Rachel doing anything with anyone who is not him.

_Man, you've got it bad. _He rolls his eyes. _Yeah, tell me about it, douche bag._

X

He grins like the Cheshire Fucking Cat when he pulls up to Berry's house not even fifteen minutes later and sees her girly ass car parked in the driveway.

"Puck, what the hell are you doing here?" He tenses at the familiar voice because if there is one person he has spent a lot of his time trying to avoid, it is Quinn Fabray.

He loves Quinn and he always will, but their relationship has been strained since she decided she never wanted to use the visitation rights they have for their daughter. He visits Beth on the times that he is allowed and if those times come around and he has somewhere he needs to be and can't show up, he at least makes a point to call Shelby and check up on his baby girl.

Quinn, however, chooses to stay as far away as humanly possible from their kid and he would be lying if he said he understood why, exactly, she does so.

"I could be asking you the same question, Blondie," Puck fires back as he finally turns and looks at her. She looks good. Great, actually; he thought that when he saw her at the graduation and he still thinks that in this very moment, but just because she looks good does not mean he is happy with her in the least bit.

This is not high school anymore and Quinn Fabray does not have him wrapped around her tiny little finger like she did back then.

"Steer clear of Rach, Puck. She is happier than I have seen her since she split with Finn and I don't need you screwing that up for her. _She _doesn't need you screwing that up for her."

Puck clenches his jaw, not a single trace of amusement in his expression because he is _not _amused. Puck does not plan on screwing up anything for Rachel because he _does _like that she is happy and he does not want to be the one to change that. He would just like it so much more if she were happy _with_ _him_. Not that he would ever admit that to Quinn, of all people.

"You know what, Quinn? You really shouldn't talk when you have no fucking clue what you're talking about," Puck spits out before turning away from her and walking up to Rachel's door, not even hesitating before knocking. Quinn is beside him in three seconds flat, and not even three knocks in, Rachel opens the door.

He finds himself fighting to catch his breath as he takes in the brunette's appearance. Her wardrobe has definitely done a one-eighty since high school, that he is sure of. She is wearing a dark red halter top that shows just enough cleavage (he will not even deny that he stares maybe a little too long at her chest, per usual), but not so much that it would be considered slutty and she is wearing black skinny jeans that fit her body perfectly.

To top it all off, her hair is down and wavy and frames her face beautifully. Definitely a sight for sore fucking eyes.

_Thank God for New York, _he thinks to himself as Rachel says, "Noah, Quinn, hi. What a pleasant surprise. Would you like to come in?"

Puck bites his lip to keep from saying what he is thinking which is _yes, _he would absolutely like to come in, but definitely not the way that she means the question.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Quinn is first to say. Rachel steps aside, allowing the both of them to step inside before shutting the door behind them.

When they enter, Puck spots Mike seated on Rachel's love seat with Tina. They are playing video games, unsurprisingly. Santana is seated on the edge of Rachel's couch, glaring at Artie who currently has Brittany in his lap. He doubts that the whole Brittany and Artie thing will last very long. Britt and San are like, the epic lesbian love story of McKinley High School and if he knows two people that are meant to be together, it is those two, hands down.

"Didn't know there was a party going on here," Puck remarks dryly.

"Not so much a party as a glee club reunion," a familiar male voice sing-songs and Puck looks up to see Kurt dancing out of the kitchen, quite literally, with a portable radio in one arm and Blaine in his other.

"Where is 'Cedes?" Quinn asks, seating herself beside the still glaring Santana.

"She had to fly back to California early. She was only able to stay for the first couple of weeks," Rachel explains, taking the stereo from Kurt and plugging it into the wall, unplugging the play station in the process. Mike and Tina both scoff in unison, but they are ignored, which Puck thinks is hilarious.

"The both of you are just in time for some singing. Like the old days!" Kurt exclaims, releasing his hold on Blaine and shoving Puck down into the seat beside Quinn. Puck is impressed; the little guy has definitely grown stronger. Doesn't mean he is happy about being manhandled, though, but he will behave himself and not go all Hulk on Hummel for Berry's sake.

"Oh, joy," Puck drawls sarcastically, but he is actually excited because he has missed singing with these crazies.

"_Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter! Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter! Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade._" Puck recognizes the song instantly and a wide grin breaks out on his face. He can feel Santana looking at him and he turns his head, sticking his tongue out childishly. Quinn looks confused by their silent interaction and the other four look overly amused, which causes him to glare at all of them before focusing his attention completely on Berry, whose voice is as amazing as it was that day he first heard her sing in the auditorium with Finn and the other four original members of the glee club.

"_Don't tell me not to fly, I've simply got to,_" Tina sings along, jumping up from her seat beside Mike and waltzing over to Rachel. "_If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you! Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?_"

Tina and Rachel go on to sing the rest of the song, but Puck's focus is on one of them the entire time... _Rachel_. Rachel, who has the voice of an Angel and makes him feel emotions he has not felt since high school when he accidentally fell in love with his best friend's girlfriend like the Lima Loser he used to be convinced he would always be. But he is not that guy anymore and he fell out of love with Quinn a long time ago when she decided to keep treating him like a piece of shit.

An almost deafening applause fills the room when the two girls finish their song and Puck stands up instantly, wolf-whistling and cat-calling because he may be different in some aspects, but he is still Noah Puckerman.

"Thank you, thank you very much," Tina says in a bad impersonation of Elvis Presley, causing Rachel to double over with laughter. Her teeth are pearly white and her hair is falling in front of her face beautifully and her brown, doe eyes are sparkling.

He thinks she has never looked more beautiful.

"You are _so_ thinking like a pansy right now." He feels someone nudge him and glares at Santana, who has just appeared beside him. He would deny her words, but she is right, unfortunately, he _is _thinking like a pansy. "Fuck Brody, man. Go after her. You have until the end of the summer and then she's leaving and I guarantee she does not plan on returning for a very long time afterwards. Do it before it's too late or I'll say I told you so when she leaves and you find yourself miserable and fucking cougars for the rest of your life."

Puck is livid, but he reels in his anger and tries to hide it because he does not want to explode in Rachel's house, of all places. Santana may be acting like the royal bitch that she always is, but she makes a good point. He wishes she would just give it up already though because she has been singing the same song since before they even graduated from high school and went their separate ways.

"You're a bitch, you know that?" Puck retorts.

Santana doesn't even look anything close to offended. "Fuck you very much, Puck. As if I haven't heard that before, but if being blunt and honest makes me a bitch, then I guess it is what it is. I'd rather be a bitch than lie to the people I care about so they can live safe lives where they're just _comfortable_. Nobody wants to be only comfortable."

He finds it odd that Santana can be both incredibly bitchy and amazingly wise at the same time. He swears that if they weren't so alike in so many ways, he would probably hate her with a burning passion. Sometimes he does, but then he remembers that he loves her like he loves that annoying cat his mom has at home and he would never get rid of that cat, so he cannot rid himself of Santana, either because a life without her in it would be far too boring.

It would give him less of a headache, but he will take a fucking headache over boring any day.

"Quinn, Puck," Rachel's sweet voice interrupts Puck and Santana's conversation, which he is more than thankful for. "Why don't the two of you engage in a song? I am sure I speak on behalf of every previous glee club member when I say that we have spent a lot of time wishing to see the two of you perform together."

Puck looks at Quinn, who is doing everything in her power to avoid looking at him, but as he continues to stare, she eventually looks at him, a mixture of emotions in her expression that he honestly does not want to decipher right now. He wants to have fun and if singing with Quinn is how he is going to get that fun, then so fucking be it.

"Why the fuck not?" He shrugs. "What do you say, Blondie? Let's bury the hatchet for the day and give the people what they want." His words cause everyone in the room to laugh somewhat awkwardly.

Quinn sighs heavily before saying, "All right, fine. One song. That's it."

"Whatever you say, Fabray," Puck remarks teasingly, mock-saluting her before grabbing Rachel's guitar and gesturing for Rachel and Tina to take a seat so he and Quinn can take their spots in front of the television. Once everyone is situated, Puck begins to strum a far too familiar tune on his guitar. It is such a familiar tune that everyone immediately smiles. Even Quinn, but there is something different in her smile; something sad.

"_You only know what I want you to_," Puck starts to sing.

"_I know everything you don't want me to_," Quinn joins in, her voice as soft and sweet as he remembers it to be.

"_Your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine._"

"_You think your dreams the same as mine._"

"_Oh, I don't love you, but I always will,_" the two sing together, their voices blending together better than he ever could have imagined. He chose the song for a reason. Not that he will admit it to Quinn, ever, or anyone, _ever_, because, again, feelings are stupid, but he means the words that he is singing. He does not love Quinn, but yet again, he _will _always love her because they are bound together for life. A child is a tie that binds and he and Quinn have a child, a beautiful baby girl, and she binds them for the rest of their lives, whether they want to be or not. Which is why he thinks Quinn needs to grow the fuck up.

By the time they have finished the song, Quinn is looking at him in a way she has not since the day of graduation when she kissed him out of nowhere and made him think they actually had a chance... and then she left and changed her mind, because that is what Quinn does best, at least when it pertains to Puck.

Puck smirks when he hears the clapping and shoves his thoughts aside because now is not the time to be all depressed and shit. He is with the people that he loves and cares for the most and he will be damned if he is going to start acting like a girly man right now... or ever, honestly.

"I'm surprised your man isn't here," Puck says after approaching Rachel. The others are absorbed in their own conversations, so he is going to take advantage of the moment and do his best to annoy Rachel. Okay, he doesn't really want to annoy her, he merely wants to spend time with her, but annoying her sounds better than spending time because saying that makes him sound like such a pussy.

"Must you refer to Brody as my man? That makes him sound like my property and I hardly see him as such because not a single human being should be made to sound like someone's prop-"

Puck puts his hand over her mouth, successfully shutting her up. She shoves his hand away and glares not even a second later. "Must you always do that? I know I can be annoying at times, but I thought we had moved past petty high school actions, Noah."

"Shutting you up when you are ranting unnecessarily is not a petty high school action, Berry," Puck corrects her even though he knows that there is nothing she despises more than being corrected, but he thinks it is kind of cute when she scrunches up her nose and tries to look all angry and bad ass, like she is currently doing. "I asked a simple question. There is no need for you to lecture me like I'm a fucking two year old. Chillax, Berry. You seriously need to mellow out."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Gee, where I have heard that before," she murmurs sarcastically, and he tries not to smirk but he does anyway because he thinks it is incredibly fucking adorable when she uses sarcasm.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he blurts randomly. He has not a clue what he is asking her or why he even asks it, but he wants to spend time with her and he does not want to do so with everyone else around.

Rachel is looking at him like he has gone insane. Well, if it isn't the shoe on the other foot...

"This is my Dad and Daddy's home, Noah," Rachel says matter-of-fact. "I cannot simply leave when I have guests." He tries his best to not look disappointed, but he thinks he fails because now Rachel looks really sympathetic. "Meet me at midnight tonight, okay?" she whispers. "We can spend some time together then. For now, I say that we have some good old fashioned glee club fun."

Puck smirks his usual smirk, but inside, he thinks he might actually be jumping with joy like a five year old little girl, which is really fucking strange. But whatever.

"Why the hell not?" Puck agrees before hitting play on the stereo.

He gets to have fun with his friends now and then he gets to have fun with Rachel later (not the kind of fun he wants to have, but he also wants more than that so it doesn't even matter).

Sounds like one hell of a fucking deal.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So, it has been a while since I have last updated, but inspiration has finallyyyyyy returned. Thank you for the support and I will be sure update again ASAP.

-Kara.


	6. Chapter 6

The park; Rachel has not been to the park since she and Finn had a picnic to celebrate their engagement. Her heart aches miserably at the memory, but it does not hurt as much as it used to. She accepts that Finn will forever have a piece of her heart, but the whole of it does not belong to him anymore and it has not since they went their separate ways at the end of the summer following graduation.

"Did you tell your boy toy you were coming out here?" Rachel looks around, trying to find Noah, who she knows is the one who asked the question, but there is no sight of him.

"Noah?" she calls out his name, feeling slightly panicked though she knows it is ridiculous because there is no doubt in her mind that Noah is the one in the park with her.

"Boo!" She screams a bloodcurdling scream. Within seconds, a warm hand is covering her mouth and she knows for sure now that it is _definitely _Noah because he is the only one who has the audacity to shut her up in such a way.

She whirls around and starts to smack him wildly (she feels slightly insane as a result, but she believes the action is justified). Noah gently grabs her by the wrists and holds her hands away from him, undoubtedly trying to keep her from smacking him anymore than she has already.

"Don't be such a banshee or crazy person, Berry," Noah hisses, but she can see the smile in his eyes. "We're not even supposed to be out here. Or did you forget that the park closes at dusk?" She does not bother responding. She knows the question is rhetorical.

"So, you didn't answer my question," he starts, releasing his hold on her wrists, "does your special Brody know that you're here?"

Rachel gives him a hard stare. "Noah," she sighs, "what, may I ask, do you have against my boyfriend? I know you were upset when I called you about him, but that is in the past. More than a few months has passed since he made his mistake and I have forgiven him. He does not deserve to have a stranger treating him with such hostility. I thought you had changed, Noah."

She sounds disappointed in him and _fuck_, it is killing him because he does not like that quiet tone of her voice that practically screams that she is silently judging him for being such a douche bag and that she wants him to be better because he _is _better. His mind flashes back to a conversation they had once where she basically called him out on all of his shit (she does that a lot, but that time, it was a full-on lecture that left him feeling burnt out) and told him certain things about himself that only his mother and Coach Bieste have ever pointed out.

He fights not to return to that night, however, because now is not the time to have a flashback and completely zone out. Rachel will think he is being rude and obviously, he has already pissed her off, so...

He shakes his head. "I... Why do you always go there, babe? You think you know me, but you don't know as much shit as you think you do."

Rachel crosses her arms over her chest. "You are far too defensive for your own good, Puckerman. I know you, as I have stated many times in the past. I care about you, Noah. I may not want to admit it as often as I should, but that one week that we were technically dating, I witnessed a side to you that I liked very much and our relationship has not been the same since."

"Whatever, Berry," Puck grumbles. "Don't be such a girl."

Rachel sticks her tongue out. Granted, the action is childish, but she finds it to be necessary because Noah is acting like a child.

"Fine. I promise to stop being such a girl, as you so nicely put it, but only if you promise to stop being such an ass." With that, she turns on her heel and walks over to the swings, sitting down one and grabbing the chains.

Noah follows suit.

"Did you seriously just say ass?" She ignores him as she pumps her legs, starting to swing back and forth. Noah mimics her actions before breaking the silence.

"Seriously, Berry, I can't stop being an ass. It is in my DNA. I mean, you've never met my dad, but come on, the guy is a douche bag. My brother sure as hell isn't any different, either."

Rachel remembers when she first found out about Noah's brother. He had never told her about Jake when they were in high school or not even when they were kids when her dads and his mom would force them to get together for play dates, but one night, when she had been suffering from lack of sleep due to Cassandra July's never-ending criticism (Rachel does not like the word hate, she thinks it is a very nasty word that is used far too lightly, but what she feels for Miss July is dangerously close to the horrid word), Noah had called her and ranted nonstop for a good hour and a half about his half-brother, Jake Puckerman.

She has not yet met Jake, but she has been told that the younger Puckerman has a reputation with the ladies that matches that of his older brother's.

"You hardly give yourself enough credit," Rachel says. She is aware that she has spoken the words before, but they need a little repeating every now and then. "You are nothing like your father, Noah. You are a far better man than he will ever get the chance to say for himself."

Noah does not look at her as he says, "Again, Berry, quit being such a goddamn girl." She would be offended, but she can hear the "thank you" hidden someone in those words of his. He is simply far too stubborn to outright state the words for fear of admitting to her that he is most definitely not an emotionless robot.

She is unsure why he continues to deny it, however, when she has known the truth since having been his girlfriend (of sorts).

"And again, Puckerman, pretty please do me the favor of not being a total dick," she fires back, causing Noah to look at her with a clear expression of disbelief.

She cannot say that she does not know why he is disbelieving; it is hardly a secret that Rachel is not fond of profound language, but sometimes when someone feels something, they have to say what that something is even if they cannot articulate the words in a less disgusting way than cursing like a construction worker.

"Thank New York for me when you go back, okay?" She cannot decide if Noah is teasing her or not, so she chooses to just smile and take the words to heart. "You are _so _fucking hot nowadays, babe."

She feels warm and fuzzy at the words and she knows that she should not. She should be ordering Noah to not speak to her the way that he has been and always has because she has a boyfriend and it is disrespectful. Old Rachel probably would have, but New Rachel swears to herself that it does not matter, that it is all harmless fun.

But logically, she knows that nothing is harmless fun in her life when it pertains to one Noah Puckerman.

"Thank you, Noah," is her only response as she continues to swing and allowing utter silence to fall upon them. She finds that she does not mind the silence because it is comfortable and she has not felt this comfortable in far too long; she has no desire to ruin that.

* * *

Puck's eyes shoot open as he feels something crawling on his leg. He blinks a few times, confused. It takes a moment for him to recognize his surroundings, but he soon reaches the conclusion that he fell asleep in the park.

He feels someone curl into him and looks over to see Berry lying beside him. He tries not to smile, but fails miserably because he feels all those girly feelings he has spent a lot of his life trying not to feel and it feels pretty fucking good.

He squints as he glances at his watch, trying to see the time. It is only three in the morning. He guesses that he and Rachel must have fallen asleep after deciding to lie down in the grass and watch the stars. He feels like he has spent the night in a horrible romcom and now he is leaving it because he knows that he has to get Rachel home before Brody grows too suspicious and he really has to stop spending time with her to get the asshole off his back.

He won't lie to himself, he actually feels like a jackass for not telling Berry that her boyfriend is an asshole who does not want her to have anything to do with Puck (Puck thinks that makes him a piece of shit because Brody should not be in control of who Rachel sees or does not see in her every day life), but he would rather lie than be the cause of that puppy dog look in her eyes that kills him any single time he fucking sees it.

"Berry, wake up," he whispers, shaking the petite girl gently. The only response he gets is a low whine and Berry curling even further into his side. He fights a smile because he knows now is not the time to think that she is incredibly fucking adorable because they really have to get out of here.

"Wake up, Berry," he says again, but he sighs when she still does not wake. He bites his lip, a thought crossing his mind. She will probably murder him, but he can't find it within himself to care because he is ready to go home and get some sleep.

"Broadway called. They want you for a role," he lies smoothly and Berry's eyes open the instant he is done speaking. She glares when she realizes that he has lied to her and that they aren't even anywhere near a phone. He smirks, which leads to her smacking him, but whatever, it was definitely worth it.

"Oh, no," she says far too dramatically after grabbing his wrist and looking at his watch. She looks at him with wide eyes. "Noah, I cannot believe we fell asleep!" she exclaims. "My fathers and Brody must be worried sick about me and how on earth am I supposed to explain this one to Brody? He will be-"

Per usual, Puck shuts her up with his hand on her mouth. "Berry," he starts softly after retracting his hand, "chill the fuck it. I am going to walk you home, you are going to sneak in through your front door because no one is going to even care that you were gone because you are a big girl, and then all will be right with your world and your precious boyfriend won't be able to say shit about tonight."

He wants to smack himself for having sounded jealous, especially when Berry cocks an eyebrow at him as if asking him what the hell his problem is. He would love to answer her, except he isn't entirely sure of the answer himself just yet. He has an idea, but he would rather not go there just yet.

Actually, he is pretty sure he won't go there ever.

"Regardless of how Brody will react when he sees me, I had fun tonight, so thank you," Berry says once Puck has calmed down and a comfortable silence has fallen over them once again. "We should definitely do it again sometime, but preferably in the middle of the day as opposed to the middle of the night," she suggests, smiling that bright Rachel Berry smile that reminds him of bright stars and sun rays.

"Agreed," he replies, though he does not honestly agree, not one hundred percent anyway, because he likes staying up into late hours of the night with her when the rest of the small town is sleeping the night away.

He stands and wipes his hands against his jeans, trying to get the wet grass off his hands. "Come on, Berry. Time for you to get some of that beauty sleep." What he doesn't add is that he doesn't even think she needs it; she is beautiful enough already.

_You are such a woman. _He resists the urge to roll his eyes. _Yeah, yeah, shut up._

He offers her his hand. She eyes him. "It's just a hand, Berry. We're not kids anymore. I'm not going to knock your ass back down or anything like I might have in the past."

Berry laughs and takes his hand and he leaves there with her feeling way too satisfied with himself for reasons he plans on spending the rest of his life denying.

* * *

Rachel quietly shuts the door when she returns home and winces as it squeaks before it finally closes. She hears someone clear their throat and she jumps slightly, her heart hammering against her chest as she turns around.

She is surprised to see that it is only Kurt.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Kurt. You should know better than to sneak up on people," she snaps, slipping her shoes off and hanging her coat onto the coat rack before walking over to the couch and sitting down. "How did you even get in here?"

"You are such a wuss, Rach," Kurt teases her. Rachel would be offended, but Kurt is constantly teasing her and he kind of always has, so she is far too used to it to be offended. "And to answer your question, your dads said it was all right for me and Blaine to spend the night because we didn't feel like going anywhere for the night," he explains.

"Where have you been, anyway?" he questions after a moment of silence, eyeing her suspiciously. Rachel is unsure why, all of the sudden, she feels guilty, but she does and she also realizes that it actually isn't an all of the sudden feeling. She has felt guilty since she left in the middle of the night after telling Brody that she would be spending time with her girlfriends. Rachel has never lied to Brody, not once since she has known him.

This stupid town is bringing out Old Rachel and she hates it, but what she cannot figure out is _why _Old Rachel is being brought out for _Noah_.

Noah is... well, he is Noah. He is her friend, a confidant, someone she has found that she can count on whenever she needs an ear lent to her or words to make her laugh when she feels like her world is falling apart.

He has never made her feel like her old self before now and yet... part of her is starting to wonder if that maybe is not so true as she likes to think.

"With Quinn." She tries to play it off nonchalantly, but she has never been particularly good at lying. She can act, but lying is a far stretch from acting when it pertains to her family and friends (at least friends who have become as close to her as Kurt has).

Kurt gives her a knowing look. "Please. I'm not stupid. Quinn said she was going out clubbing with Santana and Brittany and when she asked if you wanted to come along, your goody-two self said no. If you're going to lie to me, please make it more convincing, sweetheart."

Rachel huffs, frustrated. "I went out with Noah," she says, trying to smile, but she is almost positive she winces instead.

Kurt looks scandalized. She tenses. She _knows _that look, and what it usually means is that Kurt has heard something juicy and is about to talk her ear off.

Before he gets a chance to speak, she blurts, "It honestly is not that big of a deal, Kurt. We went to the park and talked for merely a few hours. We are friends and I see no harm with spending time with a friend."

"In the middle of the night?" Kurt asks her with raised eyebrows.

"I go out with you often in the middle of the night in New York. You don't seem to find anything unusual about that," she points out though she knows there is a huge difference between Kurt and Noah, like Kurt is her best friend and he is gay and Noah is an ex-boyfriend that she has been attracted to for years and has made out with on several occasions even when dating someone else.

"I am not even going to dignify that with a response," Kurt scoffs. "Rach, come on, I know you, and I also know that Brody would so not like to hear that you are spending time with Puck at late hours of the night when you should be enjoying spending time with him because he is your seriously hunky boyfriend."

Rachel manages to laugh, but it is halfhearted.

Kurt is right, she should be with Brody and she should not be sneaking behind his back to hang out with Noah. It is not even the spending time with Noah that is wrong; it is the fact that she is lying to Brody so she _can _spend time with Noah that is wrong. She should not be lying to her boyfriend.

"You're right, Kurt," she tells him. "I'm going to go upstairs and be with my boyfriend," she decides aloud, and Kurt smiles at her, but there is something in his smile that states he knows something is not quite right here.

"Goodnight, Rachel!" he calls after her.

"Goodnight, Kurt!" she calls back before tiptoeing up the stairs and quietly making her way into her room. She sees Brody curled up against the wall and smiles, thinking of how adorable he is when he is sleeping.

She walks over to the bed and climbs into it with him, covering herself up before curling into him. Instinctively, his arms wrap around her and she suddenly feels no need for the blanket because so much heat radiates from his body. It feels good. _He _feels good and she does not know why she is jeopardizing what they have because she really does like him, but there is this nagging thought at the back of her mind that is telling her the way she feels for him is simply not enough.

She feels Brody press his lips against her bare shoulder and he mumbles, "Did you have fun, baby?" against the exposed skin.

"I did," she says with a sigh because the words are _too _true. She shuts her eyes, deciding to forget the world for now because if she can forget the world, she can forget Noah and Brody and stop feeling like Old Rachel for just a second, and for right now, that will have to be good enough for her.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Next chapter, expect a little bit of drama and probably a lot of bitchy Santana which I always love.

Thank you for the reviews.


	7. Chapter 7

"Get her the pink one, dude." Puck looks at Mike with disgust written all over his face. No fucking way is he buying _pink_. Sure, he has a little girl and little girls wear pink, but he is not going to be caught dead or alive leaving a store with _pink _in any sort of shopping bag.

Mike rolls his eyes and grabs the pink skirt off the shelf. It is fluffy and has those shiny silver dots Rachel always used to wear on her clothing (sequins, he thinks that is what they are called, not that he fucking cares), and again, no way is he leaving with that pink, way-too-frilly-for-its-own-good skirt.

"No," Puck states firmly and Mike scowls before returning the skirt to its place on the shelf.

"If you aren't going to take my advice then why did you invite me along in the first place? Couldn't you have brought Quinn or something?" Mike asks, sounding as annoyed as Puck feels.

It is not like Puck _wanted_ to bring Mike along for this little adventure (not so much an adventure as an inconvenience, but he promised Shelby he would buy Beth some clothes and he isn't going to break any promises that have anything to do with his baby girl), but he didn't want to ask Quinn because he knew she would say no since she has not seen Beth in months and is still having issues coping with the fact that they even have a kid.

He could have asked Santana, but he can barely stand to be in the same room with her for more than a few hours, not when it is just the two of them, and his nerves are already shot; he does not need Santana to make her worse.

He supposes that he could have asked Rachel, but it is a little too late for that and last he heard, she was chilling with Brody, Kurt, and Blaine, anyway, so it isn't like she has time to be shopping with him.

"Ask one more question, I dare you," Puck threatens. "I will not hesitate to break your fucking face."

"Noah, you should not be speaking such a way with women and children around." He starts at the voice, turning around instantly.

"Berry, what on earth are you doing in the baby store?" He feels like such a chick because he is overjoyed to see her and his heart is beating too quickly because she scared the shit out of him by sneaking him up on him like a fucking Ninja Warrior.

"Hello, Michael," Rachel says to Mike, completely ignoring Puck which kind of irks him because he isn't the most patient person in the world and he isn't going to lie, he wants Rachel's attention and right now, somebody else has it. Mike nods at her and then Rachel looks at Puck and all is right in Puck's world.

Except nothing is right because he thinks Santana may just be right; he is irrevocably in like with Rachel Berry.

"I asked Shelby what Beth needs for Christmas and she mentioned that Beth is in need of winter clothing, and everyone in Lima is aware that this is the best store to shop in for children's attire."

He hadn't known that, his mother had, but it doesn't surprise him that Rachel knows.

"You're shopping for Christmas in the middle of the summer?" He looks at her like she is from an alien planet because sometimes he thinks she might be, but oh well, it makes her cute and different and Puck is beginning to realize that he likes different.

She lifts her shoulders, shrugging. "I like to shop early. It is around this time that everything is on sale. I save this way."

He does not honestly care, so he doesn't bother with replying. He simply turns to Mike and says, "Man, maybe we should just call it a day. I'm not going to find shit for my daughter. Officially the worst daddy ever."

He feels a soft hand grab his own, much bigger, hand and looks down at Rachel, confused by the gesture. He fights to ignore the familiarity of her hand, the way it melds perfectly into his own, how soft her skin is. He wants to ignore it because he knows he cannot have this feeling forever. He cannot hold onto it because her touch is not his to hold onto; it is Brody's, and the sooner he accepts that, the sooner he can move on and quit feeling like less of a man for having all these girly emotions.

Mike is looking at them knowingly and Puck wants to punch the look off his friend's face, but he knows he cannot do that with Rachel around which sucks. He's sure he'll get over it, though.

"On the contrary, you are a fantastic father, Noah," Rachel counters before Puck can say anything more. The words make him feel good; Rachel has a way of doing that, of making him feel good, making him feel more like a man and less like his father.

"You simply chose the wrong shopping partner," she goes on seriously, her hand still clutching his. Not that he minds even though he knows that he should. "Michael, your services are no longer needed," she tells the Asian, straightening her back and releasing Puck's hand (he wants to complain, but he doesn't because he knows it would just make her look at him strangely).

"Sweet," Mike says happily, fist-bumping Puck before practically dancing out of the store. Puck glares at Mike's retreating figure the entire way before the boy is actually out of his sight; he really wishes he could leave, but he knows he cannot until he has found nice clothes for his daughter.

"Every girl should have pink." He chuckles at the words, though he does not find them amusing. He swears he had this conversation moments ago with Mike and he still stands by what he said; he refuses to leave with pink in a fucking shopping bag because he is a _man _and men do not walk around with pink on them.

He opens his mouth to protest profusely, but Rachel continues, not giving him a chance to speak. "Before you protest, you do not have to worry about being caught with pink anywhere on your person. I will carry any and all pink clothing out of the store for you if it will make you feel more like a man."

_Oh no, she did not. _He chuckles bitterly. _Yeah, man, she did. _

He is half-tempted to be a jack ass and "scold" Berry for using sarcasm against him in a subtle way (what would have been a subtle way, that is, if he were not the _master_ of subtle sarcasm), but he cannot be upset with her for something she basically picked up from him in the years that she has known him.

"Sure, whatever you say, Berry, but I don't want to be here forever." He knows his words would make him sound like an asshole to anyone else, but Berry isn't anyone else, she is Berry and she _knows_ him.

Her only response is to reclaim his hand and drag him away from the front of the store. God, he hopes he does not regret this.

In the back of his mind, he knows he won't because at least it means spending time with Berry, but he'll keep that thought to himself.

X

"Hel- what on earth is all of this?" Shelby's voice fills Puck's ears as he stands on her front porch with Rachel and over fifty shopping bags full of clothing and what he considers a bunch of useless shit that his daughter does not really need, but Rachel swore up and down that every little girl needs Barbies (he pointed out that Beth would probably tear them apart and choke on their heads, but Rachel had rolled her eyes and walked away from him in response, murmuring something about over-dramatic men) and a karaoke set (he had responded to this by saying that his daughter is only _two and a half _and is just now learning how to speak properly, but he had been ignored and forced to listen to a long ass rant about how Berry had gotten her start at singing) that he still says his daughter will not use for at least another three years.

"Berry here," Puck points a finger at the brown-haired beauty standing beside him with about ten bags in her hand, possibly more, "decided that we needed to buy out the whole clothing store and toy store for Beth even though it is not even close to Christmas and I was only trying to buy her a few outfits like you said, but-"

"Puck, it is _okay,_" Shelby assures him while sounding way too amused for him to not be a little annoyed by her probably mentally making fun of him.

"Rachel, thank you for helping Puck," Shelby goes on to say, opening the door wider so the two can start bringing in the bags. He grabs what he can and follows Rachel inside, sitting the bags in the middle of the floor.

"Oh, it was not a problem, so no need to thank me," Berry says far too casually that one would not even think she is talking to her mother and is actually talking to a random stranger she met on the street only minutes ago.

It has been a while since Puck has seen Shelby and Berry interact. He feels a little bad for her because he knows how hard it has been since she has met Shelby, but it seems that the two are getting along fine and that Shelby is making an effort to get to know her daughter, so he can at least give the older woman that (he doesn't even want to think about the time when he was totally having sex with Berry's mom because that is too weird to even think about).

He turns to head out the door to help Berry with more of the bags, but a pair of arms wrapping around his right leg keeps him from moving even an inch further.

He looks down to see his little girl clutching onto his leg for dear life. "Don't go, daddy," she begs in that adorable voice of hers that gets him every damn time.

He swallows thickly, feeling tears sting at his eyes because he hates hearing that sad sound in her voice, but his visitation rights are limited and he cannot be around as often as she wants him to be and as often as he wishes he could be. He has to accept what he has been given and he is thankful that he has been given any rights at all because he signed over those rights at the hospital after she had been born even though he hadn't wanted to.

A hand curls around his shoulder and he does not have to look to know that it is Berry's. "Stay with her, Noah. Shelby and I have the rest of the bags."

Her words sound more like a question than a statement, but he hears Shelby mutter, "Yeah, of course. Stay with Beth," and he does just that because no way is he going to argue if it means being with his daughter.

He pries Beth off his leg and picks her up, holding her like he has not in months. He marvels at the color of her eyes and thinks of how they are the same color as his, so bright. Only hers are much more full of life, he thinks, and he wants it to stay that way. He wants Beth to keep her innocence and to never have to know the hardships of the world, but he supposes that is what every father wants for their little girl; it is just not the reality of the world, sadly.

He walks over to the couch and sits down, moving her so that she is placed comfortably in his lap. He takes in her blonde hair and the small smile on her face and is instantly reminded of Quinn.

Thoughts of Quinn anger him. He has told her over and over that he thinks she is being selfish in not being with her daughter because it is too hard to have to leave her. He gets it, he _does_. It kills him when he has to leave Beth and knows he will not be permitted to see her for one month or worse, longer, but he deals with it. He deals with it for Beth because it is so worth it to see his little girl's face light up when she sees him and to have her looking up to him and thinking of him as her hero because it feels good to be looked up to.

It feels good to be reassured that he is not his father and that he is not making his father's mistakes. He is present, as present as he can be, and that is good enough.

If he can do it, Quinn can, too, because he has always thought Quinn to be stronger than him, but maybe he was wrong.

"We have everything." Berry's voice drags him from his thoughts, but he barely registers what she says after that because Beth is talking and she isn't making any sense (what more can one expect from a kid?) but he is listening anyway because that is what he does and he would rather listen to his baby girl than whatever Shelby and Berry are fussing over (probably the abundance of clothing and Barbie dolls Berry forced him into buying).

A gust of cool wind fills the room as the door opens and all conversations come to a halt as the name, "Quinn," leaves Puck's lips. His gaze flickers between his daughter, whose eyes are suddenly even brighter than before and full of happiness and confusion, and Quinn, who looks strangely out of place in this picture because it has been a while since she has been in it and she has tears glistening in her usually bright hazel eyes that hold so much light but now that light appears to be dim.

"Quinn, come in," Shelby sounds surprised to have Quinn here, but not displeased.

Quinn does not make a move to step inside and Puck watches as she stands outside, her gaze focused solely on their daughter, but then Quinn is gone and the door is shutting behind her and Beth is asking him why she left.

"Nuh-uh, not again," Puck hisses quietly, fighting to mask his anger so he does not scare Beth. He tries to stand, but Beth clings onto him, not wanting him to leave.

He feels a hand on his arm and doesn't have to look to know that it is Berry because her touches are always feather light, like she is afraid she will damage him, which is weird when one thinks about it because she is the one person in his life who hasn't damaged him in any way, shape, or form.

"I'll speak with Quinn, Noah," she informs him gently and he simply nods, feeling all tension leave his body because that is what Berry's touch and voice does for him, "and you simply relax and stay with your daughter."

* * *

Rachel hears sobbing the minute she steps outside; heartbreaking sobs. Her chest feels tight as she sucks in her lower lip, trying not to cry herself because she knows how tough this has been on her friend and she hates to see any of her friends in pain.

She seats herself beside Quinn on the porch, wrapping her arms around the girl's stomach instantly and pulling her close, allowing Quinn to bury her head in her shoulder and just cry; allowing her to just let it all it out because maybe Quinn just doesn't let it out enough like she should.

She runs her fingers through Quinn's blonde tresses, trying to soothe her in the only way she knows how. "I can only imagine how hard this must be for you," Rachel starts. Quinn pulls away from Rachel and sniffles, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes. "You have to know that it is tough for Noah as well, right? I know you have reservations about visiting Beth because you will not always be permitted to visit and sometimes months will pass before you are allowed to see her again by law, but... it is hard for Noah, too, and yet, he does it. He does it because a little time is better than no time."

She pauses, takes in Quinn's expression, from the way her lips are trembling like she might cry again and the way her eyes are glossy and not as full of life as they used to be.

"I know that you know how strong you are, so what is_ really_ keeping you from your daughter?"

"I... Shelby's her mom, Rach, not me," Quinn starts, and Rachel doesn't honestly need her to continue because with those few simple words, she gets it now, she _understands_. Still, she'll let Quinn continue. Sometimes venting is necessary. "I wish I could raise her. I missed her first word, the first time she crawled, her first steps... and I am going to miss so many more firsts, but that's the point, right? They aren't my firsts to see because I signed over my rights and I should be thankful that I get at least some time with her because not every woman is that lucky, but... I'm jealous, okay?"

Rachel's smile is sympathetic and understanding as Quinn continues, saying, "I know that's silly. Shelby is amazing. I like her. She takes care of Beth, so _of course_, I like her, but I envy her because she gets the time I gave away. I guess I am just afraid that Beth is going to hate me and that one day she'll forget me no matter how many times I visit and-"

"That won't happen, I can promise that," Rachel interrupts her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before standing. "Please come inside. I am positive there is someone here who will be more than happy to spend her day with you."

Quinn hesitates before standing and the two walk inside together. Rachel beams at Noah when he looks at her with that lopsided grin that she finds she still loves so much.

"May I?" Quinn asks bashfully as she approaches Noah and Beth. Noah nods at Quinn before handing Beth over, a giggle leaving the little blonde as he does so and Rachel notes how all the light returns to Quinn's hazel eyes in that one moment.

She watches as Noah makes her way over to her, her eyes never leaving his form. Her heart feels like it is trying to find its way out of her chest and her nerves are making her whole body tingle in a way that it hasn't in quite some time.

"Thanks, Berry. You're pretty fucking amazing for someone who is bat-shit crazy, you know that?" His tone is half-serious, half-teasing and she smacks him, but she's smiling anyway because she appreciates the compliment.

"You owe me," she says with a wink and she thinks she might be teasing, but part of her is pretty sure that she is serious and for different reasons than either of them are willing to accept at the moment.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Oy vey. This one was a toughie to write, but I pulled it off anyway. Okay, so, next chapter will be the chapter with more Puckleberry and with the Santana stuff and with Brody drama and yeah... except a lot and it will probably be longer than any of them have been thus far simply because it is necessary.

Thank you for the reviews. Much appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

"No way, San, I don't fucking think so." Puck is shaking his head because _no way _is he even going to consider what Santana told him moments ago that he should do.

Except, thing is, that he is _definitely _considering it. She has a point, he is the Sex Shark, Puckerone, the Original Bad Ass himself. Never has he ever wanted a girl and _not _gotten her, but he knows this is not like all those other times. He isn't looking for sex (though, sex would be a definite plus because Berry's body is _banging_), but Berry is different and, unfortunately for him because she is taken, she means more to him than a piece of ass.

Quinn was different, too, but not in the way Berry is; Quinn was like a conquest that he fell in love with on accident but doesn't love her like that anymore because time changes things and people and he just doesn't feel that way about her anymore.

He is not going to say that he loves Berry because he does not think he does (he thinks maybe he could someday, if he doesn't already), but he feels something that he knows he shouldn't when she has a boyfriend and is happier than he has seen her in a long time.

"Grow a pair of balls, Puck," Santana says as she moves around Chang's kitchen, pots clinking together as she searches for a pot to cook Spaghetti in.

"I have a pair, remember? You've seen them," Puck reminds her cockily, joining her in the kitchen and shoving her out of the way of the cabinet with the pots and pans. He hears her scoff but ignores her as he pulls out a pot big enough for the Spaghetti and hands it to her.

She smacks him gently (gentle for Santana, anyway; after all, her nickname is _Satan_) in the head with the pot before pouring water into it and then setting it on the stove.

"Don't remind me," Santana sighs, turning on the stove. "Remind me again _why _I'm making dinner." It isn't a question; more like her not-so-subtle way of complaining.

Puck moves the box of noodles to the other side of the counter and hops up onto it, focusing on the fuming Latina afterwards. "Because, San, you wanted to make dinner for everyone and you wanted to make dinner for everyone because Britt loves your cooking and you know she's going to be here tonight to eat your cooking which, again, she loves."

Santana ignores him. Not surprising. She doesn't like admitting anything when it comes to Brittany. Sounds familiar, though, because he hardly admits anything when it pertains to Berry.

He thinks their situations different, however, because Brittany and Santana have history. They have labeled themselves. They are _Brittana _and always will be Brittana because there cannot be one without the other no matter who comes in and out of their lives.

Sure, they can fight it all that they want, but Puck is positive that Brittany will not be with Artie too much longer and that, once again, Brittana will be _on_. That's how history works.

He and Berry, they don't have history. At least, not as much history as Santana and Brittany.

Okay, maybe that isn't as true as he wants it to be because if it weren't true, it would be a hell of a lot easier to watch her with someone else, but who is he fucking kidding? It is not easy. It won't ever be.

"Seriously, Puck, just tell the girl how you fucking feel. I know you're thinking about her. You get that sick puppy dog look on your face any time that she is on your mind. I'm not an idiot."

He glares. He would ignore her, but it would be useless because Santana is like a flesh-eating virus; she never goes away when she has a point to make and knows that she is right.

And in this case, she is definitely right. Unfortunately for Puck.

"Tell you what," he starts, grabbing a bagel from the counter before jumping down, "I'll do what you say after you tell Britt that you're a dumb ass for suggesting the two of you take a break and then saying that it isn't an official break-up when you know that it is because she ran into someone else's arms."

He can practically _see _smoke coming out of Santana's ears, she looks so fucking pissed. He knows those were the wrong words to say and he really wants to take them back, but he knows he can't and he's kind of scared because Santana is holding a fork in her hands and he is pretty sure she is contemplating poking his eyes out with it.

"Don't go there, Puckerman," Santana snaps, looking more guarded than usual and Puck actually kind of feels bad because he thinks he may have hurt her feelings which isn't exactly an easy feat.

"Sure, okay," he mutters awkwardly, clearing his throat to break the silence because he hates silences when they are an awkward kind of silence.

"So, who all is coming to this little get together?" he decides to change the subject. The last thing he needs is a gloomy Santana walking around because a gloomy Santana is a bitchy Santana. If San is miserable, everyone around her has to be miserable, too, so she doesn't have to think of the fact that she is miserable.

How does Puck know this? Because it is the same way for him. When Puckerman is miserable, everyone else has to be just as fucking miserable, or even more miserable; _more_ is preferable.

"Britt," he refrains from saying _thank you, Captain Obvious_, "Lady Lips and his two-timing whore of a boy toy, Quinnie, Asian, Other Asian, Man-Hands, and that hunk of a boy toy she brought home with her," she finishes and Puck is _not _amused for a number of reasons. The first being that he does not want to spend the evening with Brody and two, he cannot stand it when Santana refers to Berry as Man-Hands and yeah, Blaine did cheat on Kurt and that was so not cool in Puck's book, but calling him a two-timing whore of a boy toy is a little unnecessary.

The worst part of all of this is that he knows her attitude is his doing. He never should have talked about Brittany. Bad move.

"Her name is Ra-" he starts, but a female voice interrupts him mid-sentence, sing-songing, "I brought fresh-baked cookies!" and he swears his heart beats faster than should be humanly possible. Her voice always does something to him that he cannot explain and he is terrified to explain it because he is afraid of what the feeling means.

He can feel eyes boring into his backside and knows that Santana is looking at him with that same old smug look on her face, so he doesn't even bother turning around because he really doesn't want to face her when he knows that she is right. He has already admitted to himself that he likes Berry more than he ever thought possible. She is the insane girl who makes him want to light himself on fire, he shouldn't have these types of feelings for her, but he does and he is unsure how to rid himself of them even though he thinks it might be starting to kill him little by little on the inside.

"Dinner smells delicious," Rachel compliments Santana when she joins her and Puck in the kitchen, a box of freshly-baked cookies in her hands. He sniffs, breathing in the scent of her cookies (he fights not to snort at the sexual innuendo he could pull out of his ass about the scent of Rachel's cookies) and letting the delicious smell distract him from his thoughts.

"Thanks, dwarf," Santana replies without looking at Rachel. "You can put those cookies in the fridge. Wouldn't want the vultures getting hold of them. Lord knows we won't have the chance to eat any if they were to smell them."

Berry frowns (he is guessing that has something to do with the not-so-affectionate nickname Santana threw at her when she walked into the kitchen), but walks over to the fridge and opens it, placing the box inside.

"Noah, I am far too used to Santana's not-so-endearing nicknames for me, but is there any particular reason she is choosing today to turn back to her usual evil self?" Rachel asks him seriously once they leave Santana in the kitchen, her voice quiet, most likely as a way to keep Santana from hearing her. Which is for the best, he guesses, because if Santana were to hear Berry insulting her in any way (even if that isn't the way that Berry means the words), she will fly off the handle.

He shrugs, as if he has no clue even though he does because he is the one who caused it. Hence the reason he is not saying anything. He does not want a lecture from Berry right now. It is the last thing he needs and besides, he likes it when Berry smiles at him, not when she yells at him and makes him feel like a worthless piece of shit because all he wants to do is make her proud.

When he started feeling such a way, he has no idea and it drives him fucking crazy (_she _drives him crazy) because no girl is supposed to make him feel this way.

What's bothering him most, though, is that Berry isn't just some girl, she's _everything_, and he is trying to figure out when she became exactly that to him. When had his life stopped meaning anything without the sometimes overly-perky, overly-dramatic, overly-_anything and everything_, brunette starlet?

And she is a starlet because she is going to be a star someday. She is bigger than this town, better. She belongs in that big city where she can live out her dreams and Puck thinks he isn't good enough for her, he _knows _he isn't, so he stands by what he said to Santana. He is not going to tell Berry how he feels because Brody is better for her (even if he is a complete and utter asshole) and Puck cannot live up to the dancing idiot.

Speaking of... "Hey, Berry, where's your dancing fool of a boyfriend?" Puck asks cruelly. He does not want to spend a single minute with Brody, not even a second, but he supposes he has no choice because no way in hell is he missing out on Santana's awesome cooking for a dick wad who told him to stay away from the one girl he actually gives two shits about.

Rachel looks annoyed at his not-so-nice way of speaking about her boyfriend. "Noah, be nice," she reprimands him, smacking him playfully on the shoulder. His skin feels electrified at the contact, the slight brush of her fingers against his shoulder, but he ignores it. He's trying to be a good guy and do the right thing for once in his life. Which sucks, but he'll try not to let it get to him too much.

"To answer your cruelly worded question," Berry starts in and he hears the judgement in her voice and feels bad for like, a millisecond before realizing he doesn't honestly care about Brody so he has no reason to feel bad (other than because Rachel sounds disappointed in him), "Brody is outside having a man-to-man with Michael, but they will join us soon."

"Oh goody!" Puck exclaims, his voice too high-pitched (not that he can even reach a high-pitch so it sounds a little weird, but that's kind of the point). Rachel's only response is to smack him again, a little harder this time, but not so hard that he winces because he is still the Original Fucking Bad Ass.

She opens her mouth as if to speak or worse, scream at him, but the door opens and suddenly, the room is filled with laughter and several conversations going on around him.

He swears his mouth drops all the way to the floor when he sees his half-brother and that one brunette chick who he thinks has the same name as that dog in the one really sad movie Rachel made him watch once (he doesn't want to relive that experience, _ever_) walk through the door, the door swinging shut behind them.

Puck's facial expression hardens and he storms into the kitchen, grabbing the ladle from Santana's hands, ignoring Rachel's protests and attempts to keep him in the living room.

Santana places her hands on her hips and gives him that really terrifying deadly glare that would scare him if he weren't so pissed off.

"Did you invite my brother?" he growls, his glare matching hers perfectly.

Santana yanks the ladle from his hand and resumes stirring the noodles. She doesn't look at him as she says, "No, I didn't, asshole. Mike invited him because he and Mike have been good friends since _Grease_ and anyway, you should be glad he is here. Clearly he doesn't care that you're here, so you need to take your own fucking advice and take a goddamn chill pill because I am so not in the mood to deal with you, Puck."

He doesn't reply; he simply takes a deep breath and exhales, returning to the living room when he feels calmer. He greets his little (not-so-little, but still younger) brother with a handshake and a guy hug before greeting Mike the same way. He doesn't even bother looking at Brody, who walked in with the others before Jake and that girl whose name he now remembers is Marley walked in.

Of course, he can't have the luxury of avoiding Brody forever and when he turns around, the first thing he sees is Rachel wrapped up in the aforementioned man's arms. It feels like his stomach is twisting and turning and he thinks for a minute that he might be sick until he realizes what he is feeling is jealousy.

"Fuck this shit," Puck spits out, tossing a glare at Brody. All eyes are on him, but he finds that he doesn't honestly give a shit as he storms out of the house and slams the door behind him.

Dramatic exit? Probably, but at least he knows he did Rachel proud because she was all about that shit in high school. The last thought he has before her hears said girl's voice is _so much for being the good guy._

* * *

"Puckerman!" Rachel screeches, storming out of the house not even minutes after Noah. She is appalled by his immature behavior and is determined to get an explanation out of him even it it kills her to do so.

"Fuck, Berry, you got to stop doing that," Noah breathes out when he looks at her. He looks furious and it reminds her of that time in the choir room when Finn demanded to hear the truth about "Drizzle" out of Quinn's mouth.

The one difference between then and now is that she has not a single clue why he is so terribly angry.

"Not that I do not appreciate your superb dramatic exit," he smirks, but she ignores it even though it continues to make her feel warm, "but what, may I ask, drove you to resort to mimicking the actions of a toddler in a grocery store when said child does not get his or her way?"

Noah rolls his eyes. She should have seen that coming. "Look, Berry, it's none of your goddamn business why I stormed the fuck out of that house. I just don't feel like being in there with you and the gang and your asshole of a boy toy."

She does not want to think it because it would mean facing what she has been fighting to deny, but she swears she detects a hint of jealousy in his tone at the end of his statement.

She opens her mouth to ask what his problem is with Brody (she is half aware of the reason already, but clearly, there is something more that she is oblivious to), but he goes on, saying, "Why are you with him, anyway? He's an asshole, Rachel. You deserve better than some piece of shit who fucks the bitch who makes your life a living hell every single day and then tells one of your best guy friends to back off because he thinks I'm actually a threat..."

Her eyes widen at his last words (she opts to ignore his incessant cursing, though she does not find his choice of words the least bit amusing) and he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. "Uhm..." he says hesitantly, but no other words leave him. Funny, now Noah Puckerman is at a loss for words. She would be laughing, but she is too confused to appreciate the hilarity of the situation.

"Brody asked you to steer clear of me?" she eventually asks him. She does not know how to feel; hurt, she supposes, as well as shocked and angry.

Noah nods slowly. "Yeah, Berry, he did, and I agreed, but... I was lying, obviously, because I caught up with you right afterwards. Like hell I was going to listen to that bastard." She frowns and Noah actually looks apologetic, but she finds herself feeling a tiny bit upset with him as well for not having told her sooner. "I'm sorry, babe."

"I am _not _your babe, Noah, so please refrain from referring to me as such," she snaps. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to have a very much needed talk with my so-called boy toy," she finishes bitterly before turning on her heel and disappearing into the house, leaving Noah alone on the porch.

She does not bother to say hi to anyone or answer the unspoken questions written clearly on their faces as she walks over to Brody and grabs his hand, yanking him towards the stairs. "We need to talk," she says simply, her tone controlled. Brody raises a brow, but does not question her and follows her up the stairs and into what she assumes to be Mike's room.

"So, what's up, Rachel?" Brody asks her, taking a seat on Mike's bed. She leans against the inside of the door, not wanting to be anywhere near him for fear she will lose her nerve.

"Please explain to me what makes you think you have the right to ask any of my friends to stay away from me because of your petty and unexplained jealousy," she states coolly, her gaze locked on his. His expression morphs from confused to guilty in a matter of seconds.

"I see the way he looks at you," Brody says quietly and she wants to say she doesn't know what he is talking about, but she does because she has seen it, too. She walks over to the bed and sits down beside him, taking his much bigger hand in her much smaller hand and giving it a squeeze. She finds that his touch does not excite her like it used to. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I shouldn't have been such an ass and asked him to stay away, but... I care about you a lot and I just... I see the way you look at him, too. I got scared and decided to be all macho and shit which was clearly wrong."

"It's okay," she tells him honestly. "You have nothing to apologize for, but... I think you should go back to New York." Brody looks crestfallen. She feels awful, but she knows that in the long run, it will be for the best. "I don't feel what I used to with you. I simply feel comfortable and that is not fair to you. You deserve far better than what I can give you."

She releases his hand and leans over, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispers against his cheek before pulling away from him.

"Yeah, me, too," Brody mumbles, giving her a small smile before leaving the room.

She decides not to leave quite yet. She has managed to hurt two men in a matter of minutes; it feels like high school all over again and that thought is not a pleasing one in the least.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I promise that things between Rachel and Puck will be resolved in the next chapter. Brody is finally gone and Rachel feels like an ass. All is right with the world lol. Thanks for the reviews.


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